One in Four British Women ‘Addicted to Spending’

May 5, 2011 - PRLog -- A new study by the UK’s leading discount website has revealed the dependency that some women in the UK have on parting with their cash, as it has been revealed that one in four women in the UK claim to feel ‘addicted to spending money.’ What’s more, the majority of these women admit that they feel that they do not have control over their shopping habits.

The study was conducted by www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk as part of research into the spending habits of Britons; with 1,342 women aged 18 and over taking part.

Respondents to the study were initially asked, “Do you feel that you are addicted to spending money?” to which a quarter, 24%, of respondents answered “yes.” These women were then asked if they ever felt ‘out of control’ of their spending addiction, to which over half, 51%, answered “yes.”

The women taking part in the study who claimed to feel addicted to spending money were asked why they felt they had a problem. The majority, 62%, explained that they felt that they ‘often bought unnecessary items they don’t need.’

These women were also asked the main reasons behind why they bought unnecessary items. The most popular answer amongst respondents was purchasing goods ‘to make themselves feel happier;’ with 58% of respondents labelling this as their explanation. In contrast, a fifth, 19%, admitted to simply ‘liking to have new things.’

All of the women taking part in the study were asked to choose, from multiple answers, which items they most regularly bought ‘unnecessarily;’ in order to pinpoint the most frequently impulse- bought items. The top five results were as follows:

1)   1. Clothing – 21%
2)   2. Food – 19%
3)   3. Electronic goods – 15%
4)   4. Accessories – 13%
5)   5. Gifts for others – 11%    

Those addicted to shopping were also asked in the study, “Have you ever taken out credit in order to fund your spending ‘addiction’?” to which over half, 56%, of respondents answered “yes.” Of these women, the most popular form of credit opted for was a credit card (24%), closely followed by an overdraft (21%).

Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, commented on the findings:

“With this research, we really wanted to look into the spending habits of women around the UK. Many are often stereotyped for liking the odd shopping trip or two, but we wanted to look deeper into when the odd spot of shopping can become more serious, and turn into more of an addiction.”

He continued:

“It was interesting to see that as many as one in four women claimed to feel addicted to spending money, and not even necessarily buying things that they needed or wanted. The majority spent money in an attempt to make themselves feel happier, which can also be a small concern- particularly given the negative impact that this can have on your finances. We would recommend that anyone feeling that they have an addiction to parting with their money, or taking out finance in order to do so, be very careful. Whilst shopping can feel great, drawing up budgets and spending plans can be a great way to control how much you spend each month. By knowing what you can spend without getting yourself into financial difficulty, it is much easier to plan what you can buy whilst still enjoying the odd spot of shopping. Planning ahead is key to controlling your bank account.”

ENDS

LINK: http://www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk  

For more information please contact Emma Kent of 10 Yetis public Relations Agency on emmak@10yetis.co.uk or 01452 348211.
Editor’s Notes

Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes is a regular media contributor regarding online shopping and the credit crunch. At 30, his personal worth is more than £60 million. Mark was previously a trainee chef working for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, London.

Mark appeared as a ‘Secret Millionaire’ in the series on Channel 4, in which he donated £115,000 of his own money to worthy causes.

MyVoucherCodes has had sales exceeding £600m in the last year.