Boosting mental health is a key driver for adopting good saving habits, with one in three (31%) people in the UK confirming that they are less stressed when they are saving regularly. 

As we see the back of the festive season, many Brits will be using the ‘Twixmas’ period to lean into saving habits and plan for the year ahead, with nearly a quarter of Brits (23%) saying they do identify as having a ‘frugal’ mindset when it comes to saving and spending. 

Even amongst those who don’t necessarily think of themselves as frugal, nearly nine in ten people said they frequently applied at least one regular money saving habit. Those ranged from skipping takeaway drinks for 40% of UK residents, to cancelling unused subscriptions (40%), not going out to pubs, bars and on nights out (37%) or for meals (34%) more than once a month, and ‘meal planning’ meals carefully to reduce spend on office lunches (35%).

People were indeed so serious about developing good financial habits that nearly four in ten said they’d considered using the services of a qualified financial advisor – with this trend most prevalent in younger age groups. Indeed, 47% of 18-24 year olds and 53% of 25-34 year olds have considered using this service.

Spending trends range from doom spenders to yo-yo savers 

Although most people are keen to apply good money habits, savers across the country did admit to behaviours that got in the way of setting a regular habit, with those most prevalent amongst younger age groups. One in four (24%) of 18-24 year olds admitted to ‘yo-yo spending’, a trend where periods of overspending are followed by a complete ban on buying even basic essentials, with one in five (19%) 25-34 year olds also admitting to this habit.

Another prevalent trend was amongst ‘saving dippers’, where people save up a lump sum but then can’t resist the urge to dip into savings once they’ve reached a certain amount – this impacted one in five (20%) of 18-24 year olds and nearly three in ten 25-34 year olds (29%)

People aged 18-24 year olds were also twice more likely (17% vs 8%) than the national average to ‘doom spend’, a trend where people are more inclined to live in the moment and not prioritise saving for the future because they feel morose about the current climate and future prospects.

However on the whole, most people reported positive habits and close to half (46%) were satisfied with their financial situation. The most common reasons to save were to set up a rainy day or emergency fund for 52% of respondents in the event of a loss of income, while planning for unexpected expenses (51%) and planned goals such as holidays, house renovations and events (39%) also key saving priorities. On average, people aimed to save 23% of their income. 

HSBC UK’s Head of Everyday Banking, Pella Frost, commented: “The run-up to January is a great time to review your finances and set some goals for the year ahead.

“Planning your financial future can be easier if you start by mapping out your goals, whether that’s the holiday of a lifetime, or boosting your rainy day fund. There are a number of tools people can use to support them with saving better, for example our Savings Goals feature, which helps customers make a plan and stick to regular saving habits and improve their financial resilience over the long-term.”

HSBC UK’s Savings Goals feature is helping customers create almost 20,000 goals every month on average, with more than 100,000 goals already created since the tool launched earlier this year. More than one in ten goals set has already been achieved by HSBC UK customers.    

On top of this, HSBC UK also offers Investment Goals, which helps customers make a plan for achieving their long-term financial goals and set aside money each month to invest. 

Finally, customers and non-customers alike also have access to a range of tools to help them plan for their financial future, including a Financial Fitness Tool, Savings Calculator, account comparison tool, and free 1:1 financial health checks.