36% of people in the East are being forced to dip into their savings amidst cost of living crisis
Over one in ten people in the East of England have no money in savings
Last updated 29th Sep 2022
Almost a fifth of people living in East Anglia have no money in their savings, whilst those who do have money put away have an average of just over £15,000 pounds.
That's according to research from The Building Societies Association, which found that around 35% of households have stopped putting money into their savings accounts. A similar number having begun dipping into these funds to cope during the cost of living crisis.
Iona Bain is a finance expert and author of the Young Money Blog.
She says people need to do what they can to put some money to one side: "I've seen just how much it helps people's finances and their overall mental well-being.
"Knowing that you have a pot of money there, in an easy access account that you can grab just in case takes the weight off people's shoulders. It helps them sleep better and helps them have more hope and optimism about the future - that's so important."
Iona says she's personally benefitted from having some money stored away: "We talk about having money just in case your washing machine breaks, for instance. That actually happened to me last week!
"I turned on my washing machine and it just didn't spin. I had to replace it and I'm so glad I had some savings to do that, because it would have been much more stressful and expensive to take out credit or a loan to pay for that expense."
Saving Tips
The financial expert gave these top tips for those wanting to put some money away:
Don't run before you can walk
"It's much better to save small amounts each month and keep that going as a habit over a long period of time rather than trying to save a huge amount from the off and finding by month two or three that it's just not sustainable."
Automate savings
"Making the savings habit as automatic as possible makes things easier. So I have a standing order in my bank account to my savings account, so when I get paid, there's a certain percentage of my income that automatically goes into my savings.
"I see that as paying my future self. I'm not sacrificing that money, it's still mine, it's just being put to one side for the future, in case I really need it."