Are The British Bad At Money Management?
The Brit’s ability to manage their money has dramatically decreased over the least few decades, but who’s to blame? Is it the rise of the ‘throw-away’ culture which means Brits are constantly striving to get their next spending-fix by any means. Or are the money-lenders like banks and store-card operators to blame by allowing almost anyone to get their hands on instant cash. Either way, emphasis is no longer placed on managing money well.
Today, from an early age, children are not taught to respect the value of money, with Christmas’ and birthdays dominated by expensive games consoles and computers. Growing children believe they automatically have the right to expensive, luxury goods, and thus do not understand the importance of spending wisely or saving for ‘rainy days’.
But adults also under strain from the retail sector, who are constantly promoting the latest ‘must-have’ buys and luxury goods which they believe they have an instant right to. With adults feeling they need to compete to own the latest car model or designer shoes, the concept of success is placed on material possessions rather than traditional values like morals and good health.
Nonetheless, it must be noted that there is a definite increase in frugal spending evident by the rise in comparison websites, pound shops and cheap high street stores. The current recession has made most Brits spend more wisely, showing that perhaps good money management skills are slowly becoming important to many UK spenders.
However, the state of British money management is unlikely to improve until emphasis is taken off superficial success. Only once children learn from an early age the true value of good money management, and money lenders limit who they lend to, can our nation once again be considered to have good money management skills.
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