Worrying about money is an everyday thing

Money concerns and belt tightening are breeding a generation of compulsive bank balance checkers, according to latest research from Halifax.

Halifax asked how far into the month people get before money gets tight, and they have concerns that they won’t have enough cash to get them to their next pay day.

One in 10 people admitted that things get tight for them within a week of receiving their monthly salary

By week two, one in five people are concerned that they won’t have enough to get them through the rest of the month. This increases to a third of people by the third week.

In the last week before pay day, half of the population is concerned that they won’t have enough money until they next get paid.

On average, this means that people are concerned that money is tight 17 days after they’ve been paid.

Responses to the research demonstrate that money concerns are encouraging people to have more vigilance and take more control over their bank account.

More than one in five people (21 per cent) check their bank balance at least once a day, and a further 22 per cent check it more than three times a week. A quarter of people check their balance weekly, with just 13 per cent checking their account no more than once a month.

This level of account management, however, is leading to an increased level of knowledge and awareness of current account balances.

Nearly one in four of the population claim to know how much is in their bank account to the nearest £5

A further 23 per cent say that they know how much money they have to the nearest £20 but one in 20 who say they only know their current balance to the nearest £500

Just over half of the population has more than one current account. Whilst one in three people in the country say that they have a joint account with someone else, only 16 per cent have a joint account as their only account– the rest have a personal account too.

However, joint bank accounts still appear to be the reserve of Mr & Mrs, as the research demonstrates that 85 per cent of joint account holders are married to the other party. Of the remaining amount, 12 per cent live together but aren’t married.

Just under half (43 per cent) of these account holders pay their salary into the account, with the remainder being paid into a personal account. Just seven per cent of joint account holders pay equal amounts into the account each month. Men pay the lions’ share, just four per cent of men say that the other account holder pays more than them every month.

Whilst 40 per cent of joint account holders say they pay for ‘everything’ through the account, the majority focus on household expenditure:

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