Rich Friends Making You Feel Poor?
For those of us who strive to keep up with the Jones’, recent figures suggest that we could be about to enter an era of heightened repossession risk. The warning comes as in the better-off parts of the UK, Credit Expert, the online credit monitoring service, has shown that individuals are under significant pressure to keep up with the extravagant purchases of their peers. Sadly, this is a damaging cycle that stretches our finances to breaking point. Debtsolver know the effects of this irresponsible spending can be severe and long-lasting.
The statistics, released in the Scotland on Sunday, have shown that about £45billion is being spent on expensive cars, designer fashions and big ticket appliances each year, with the Scots the most image conscious in the UK. This trend translates to a marked increase in financial pressure among Britain’s middle classes though, brought about by increased borrowing. So, even in times of austerity, we seem to find it difficult to maintain a responsible attitude to spending. The desire to better our peers and maintain the irresponsible spending habits that became ingrained pre-credit crunch is putting homes at risk in some of the most affluent areas in the UK.
The number of repossessions looks likely to increase before the end of the year and the trend will continue if we don’t do more to tackle reckless spending habits. We all know the theoretical perils associated with ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ but it’s important to understand that the threat of severe debt problems, bankruptcy and repossession is real and in some cases, imminent. Put simply, there are a lot of Brits living beyond their means and if their behaviour doesn’t change, they’re in serious financial trouble.
Peer pressure is something that we commonly associate with teenagers trying to fit in but it seems that roughly a fifth of us admit to irresponsible spending in an effort to compete with our friends and neighbours. A quarter of us will dip into our savings to boost our image in front of our friends and half of us often feel compelled to make gestures like buying expensive rounds if drinks.
Of course, the epitome of overspending to impress will always be when we’re out on a date but there are other situations when common sense takes a back seat to our ego. Parting gifts for colleagues, friends’ birthday presents and the latest designer fashions are just some of the areas where we are likely to spend far more than we are actually comfortable spending – but we do it anyway.
There has been much written about a sea-change in the stigma surrounding our spending habits. On one hand, we have this bleak picture being painted of a nation of image conscious, reckless over-spenders; on the other, being thrifty is cool, with clever insights into the best ways to reuse and recycle being regarded as the most valuable social currency. This is certainly better for your financial well-being and could have a significant impact on your health too; the stress of debt and compulsion to conceal our financial troubles can put us under a lot of strain.
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