Survey finds fewer people saving money

ONE-IN-THREE savers put aside more than €100 a month but the number of people stashing their cash away is falling.

People who say they are saving regularly declined from 39% to 36% last month, according to the latest Nationwide (Ireland) ESRI Savings Index report.

The proportion of consumers who think now is a good time to save dipped from 31% in March to 28% in April.

Figures show 12% are saving up to €25 per month and 17% are saving between €26 and €50.

A third are putting away between €51 to €100. Of the 15% putting away more than €200, 1% are saving more than €751 a month.

Managing director at Nationwide Brendan Synnott said: “The perceived importance of saving has declined in each of the past two months while the preference to use any excess funds to pay down debt has declined to its lowest level since we started recording data in January 2010.

“April has also seen a significant increase in preference to spend. Taken together, these findings, albeit based on one month only, may indicate the first signs of a more positive consumer outlook and a return to a normal saving and spending pattern.”

The April data shows significant changes in consumers’ intentions as to how they might allocate any money available to them over their everyday needs.

The index fell five points to 103 in April, reflecting continued concern among consumers about the current savings environment.

While paying down debt remains the most preferred option at 42%, preference to spend increased from 6% in March to 16% in April, the highest level recorded since January last year.

The figure is even higher among the over 50s age group, with 18% now prepared to spend any spare cash.

When asked about their reasons for saving, 42% claims they are saving for unexpected expenses, while 14% say they are saving for holidays.

The savings attitude sub-index declined by two points to 89 as the percentage of people saving regularly declined.

The survey found that 14% of people expect to be able to save more in the future than at present and the trend in this measure is up from 9% in February.

The savings index is conducted among 800 respondents by the ESRI.