Britons boast about bargains

22/02/11
Savings

Rising inflation and an increase in living costs mean that shoppers have become more conscious of their spending habits.

Consumers are happy to show off about the amount of cash they have saved on their shopping.

Four out of five shoppers love to boast about the bargains they have bought, according to a new survey.

Discount home ware chain Homesense polled 2000 people on their spending habits and found that 78% of participants enjoy bragging to others about their cheap purchases.

Just over a third of respondents admitted to exaggerating the savings they had made to impress other people and 46% said they pretended that the pre-discount price of goods they had bought was higher than it was in reality.

More than a quarter of respondents said they inflated the amount of money a store knocked off the original price of their purchases to show off to others.

VAT increases and rising inflation have meant that many shoppers are being more frugal with their cash. Over four fifths of people described themselves as thrifty shoppers and more than a half said they would not eat in a restaurant without having a money-off voucher.

Victoria Wright, spokeswoman for discount homeware retailer HomeSense, said: “When you bag yourself a good deal – especially if it’s something you’ve had your eye on for a while – it’s only natural that you want to shout about it afterwards and share your triumph with others”.

She added: “But people need to remember that something is only a bargain if they really want it or need it in the first place. If you wouldn’t buy it at its original price, then technically you aren’t really saving yourself any money”.