19 November 2008
As rising living costs continue to put a squeeze on disposable incomes, many consumers are seeing their current accounts run dry before they receive their next pay packet.
According to research carried out by Abbey Banking, two thirds of people are forced to make sacrifices in the days before payday because they have run out of money.
On average, consumers empty their current accounts five days before they get paid, which for many people is at the end of each month.
Abbey calculates that disposable incomes have dropped by 29% over the last two years as mortgage costs, food and energy prices have risen.
It points out that this makes budgeting more important than ever as consumers have got to find a way of making the money in their current accounts stretch further.
Analysis by uSwitch revealed recently that current account providers have been reducing their in-credit rates following the Bank of England's base rate cut earlier this month.
The independent price comparison and switching service therefore urged consumers to find a current account that will make their money go further.