Where a person lives in the UK can help determine whether they are likely to end up in financial difficultly and possibly have to seek debt consolidation services or even an IVA, a new report suggests.
Where a person lives in the UK can help determine whether they are likely to end up in financial difficultly and possibly have to seek debt consolidation services or even an IVA, a new report suggests.
Chelsea Building Society carried out research to discover where the 'best' savers in the UK tended to live and the results are quite surprising.
The age-old stereotype of the Scots being tight-fisted turned out to be at least partially true. The typical Glaswegian has, according to Chealsea's findings, £15,000 worth of saving, making it unlikely that they will get into unexpected financial difficultly and need debt consolidation products.
However, Glasgow's impressive saving record is nothing compared to the 15 per cent of people who live in Edinburgh and have at least £30,000 squirreled away should some unexpected financial crisis occur.
An impressive one in 20 people from the Scottish capital revealed that they managed to save £500 every month.
"Who would have thought the Scots were so good at saving? Having a reputation for being tight-fisted has done them no harm when it comes to saving for the future," said Vicki O'Connell, a spokesman for Chelsea Building Society.
However, the data also showed that some places in England seemed to attract people keen to save for the future.
In England, the East Anglia city of Norwich was revealed as something of a savings hotspot - one in ten (nine per cent) people from the city said that they had over £30,000 saved up.
Similarly, people from Sheffield showed the sort of financial nous demonstrated in the film The Full Monty, when Robert Carlyle went to drastic lengths to make some money. Nearly two thirds (58 per cent) of residents in the city knew exactly what rate of interest they received on their savings account.
"People take very different approaches to saving and it's interesting to see the different trends in different parts of the country," Ms O'Connell added.
"It's about whatever works for an individual - some people prefer to put a set amount away every month and some people would rather put away a lump some when it suits them."
Chelsea's figures also highlighted which cities in the UK were likely to see more people getting into financial difficulty and possibly needing debt consolidation services. Leeds, Plymouth and Newcastle were named as the worst saving cities in the country.
The study also threw up the slightly ridiculous lengths some people in the UK are prepared to go in their quest to save. One in ten admitted resorting to the much lampooned tactic of hiding their cash under a mattress, though several more inventive people said they keep their money hidden in their tumble dryer!
As well as saving to help guard against future financial shocks, many people said that they saved in order to afford to purchase large items, such as holidays and a new car.
With financial experts predicting that interest rates could increase - perhaps to as much as 7.5 per cent - this could be a perfect time to think about putting money away in a savings account.
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