May 2011
Monday was `Tax Freedom Day`
31 May 2011
Monday was `Tax Freedom Day` - the day on which the average person in the UK has earned enough to pay all their taxes for the year.
That`s according to the Adam Smith Institute - the economic think
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Two thirds `fail to plan ahead` for retirement
27 May 2011
Despite fearing that they won`t be able to cope in retirement, two thirds of people around the world fail to plan for their `golden years`, new research from HSBC indicates.
The Future of Retirement: The power of planning report
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Consumers have `wait and see` attitude towards finances
26 May 2011
The BBA (British Bankers` Association) has said that British consumers are adopting a `wait and see` attitude towards their finances, as demand for loans and other credit remained subdued, the BBC reports.
BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said that
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One in three say personal debt has increased in the past year
25 May 2011
A third of people in the UK say their personal debt - excluding mortgage debt - has increased in the past year, according to research by comparison site moneysupermarket.com.
The survey found that 14% of consumers make no more
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Water `could join list of growing bills`
24 May 2011
Water bills could increase this summer, according to Thisismoney.co.uk, with utility companies considering `rationing by price` to help combat the effects of climate change.
One regional water company, Wessex Water, has already trialled a system in which customers are
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Household finances continue to worsen in May
23 May 2011
35% of households feel their financial situation has worsened in May, according to the latest Household Finance Index (HFI) from Markit - compared with just 7% who reported an improvement.
But the overall outlook for household finances improved, with
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Half of households with children `rely on two salaries`
19 May 2011
49% of UK households with children are dependent on two salaries to cover their living costs, research by Scottish Widows has revealed.
Research carried out involving 5,148 UK adults also shows that many people are leaving themselves and their
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Cutting debt "binds the coalition together"
18 May 2011
The coalition`s shared agenda of cutting debt is the "glue which binds this coalition together".
This evening, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, will make that claim in a speech to the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), in
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One in five `spend salary within a week`
17 May 2011
Just under one in five Britons (19%) spend their earnings within a week of being paid, according to a survey by Vouchercodes.co.uk.
14% say they normally run out of money around half way through the month. And 14%
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More people saving for a holiday than a rainy day, survey finds
16 May 2011
A survey by BM Savings has found that more people are putting money aside to pay for a holiday than for a `rainy day` - potentially limiting the amount of protection they have against debt in an emergency.
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A `step back in time` for household incomes
13 May 2011
A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has revealed that UK households could be facing the biggest drop in income for three decades, the BBC reports.
While the institute said median take-home incomes actually recorded an increase
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17 million British adults neglecting their finances
12 May 2011
The second annual Scottish Widows `Priorities of Life Index` has revealed that 17 million (35% of) British adults admit to `neglecting their finances`.
21% of these adults said they couldn`t focus on their finances as much as they would
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Inflation `likely to remain above target` through 2012
11 May 2011
Inflation will probably rise further before 2011 is over, and will `more likely than not` remain above the 2% target throughout the whole of next year as well. So says the Bank of England`s Inflation Report.
Every three months,
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Interest rates on credit card debt `highest in 13 years`
10 May 2011
The average credit card rate has reached 19.1%, according to comparison website Moneyfacts.co.uk - the highest it has been since 1998.
Since the beginning of the year, interest rates on 18 credit cards have increased, compared with just four
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Struggling consumers `taking on more debt to bridge the gap`
9 May 2011
Many people are taking on additional debt to `bridge the gap` in their finances until payday, according to R3 President Frances Coulson.
Commenting on the latest insolvency figures (which showed a continued fall in the number of personal
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New figures reveal a fall in individual insolvencies
6 May 2011
The Insolvency Service has released its latest insolvency statistics, revealing that individual insolvencies in England and Wales have fallen.
During the first quarter of 2011, the number of people declared insolvent (in England and Wales) because of their unmanageable
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Church acts to help people in debt
5 May 2011
Stanway Evangelical Church in Colchester has funded three of its members to work with charity Christians Against Poverty, offering debt help, essexcountystandard.co.uk reports.
The three members now provide free, confidential courses for people to help them `get to grips
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Shopping: there`s more than one kind of debt…
4 May 2011
A lot of people use credit when they`re shopping. Not everyone realises how many different types of credit there are - or how much they could improve their finances by putting some more thought into how they `buy now and
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Average wedding debt `takes almost three years to pay off`
3 May 2011
The average wedding debt takes couples 33 months to pay off, research by insolvency trade body R3 has found.
The average amount borrowed for a wedding is £5,000, the report reveals, but many people borrow more: almost one
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