Consumer surveys released over the last few weeks paint a picture of Australian households still preferring to increase savings and reduce borrowing, being worried about the economy and cost of living pressures, and being determined to play it safe by fixing their home loan rates.More than one-third of respondents to Bankwest's Financial Indicator series said that if they got a tax return they would use it to pay off debt. Of these, 53.5 per cent would pay off credit card debt, 40.3 per cent would reduce their mortgage and 5.1 per cent would pay off a car loan. Ten per cent said they would put the money into shares (up from 6.1 per cent last year), 11.5 per cent said they would put their refund into a term deposit (10.8 per cent last year) and 3.8 per cent would put it into superannuation (up from 2.4 per cent).Another 18.3 per cent said they would use the money on home improvements, and 7.5 per cent said they would pamper themselves.Mortgage Choice reported that while sales of fixed-rate home loans dropped in June, demand is still high relative to previous years. Fixed-rate loans accounted for 28.3 per cent of all loans approved by Mortgage Choice in June - down from 30.1 per cent the previous month.In June last year, fixed-rate loans made up 18 per cent of Mortgage Choice's approvals, and in June 2011 they made up 12.3 per cent of approvals.According to CUA's National Mortgage Survey, 36 per cent of people who currently have a variable-rate mortgage are planning to fix their mortgage rate in the future. This number has increased from 29 per cent in January. Australians under 30 are more likely to seek certainty in their repayments; 56 per cent are planning to fix their mortgages in the future.CUA found that sentiments driving these intentions include a high level of pessimism about the economy (48 per cent said it would get worse before the end of the year and only 10 per cent said it would improve) and concern about the cost of living (75 per cent said costs would make them think twice before making a financial decision).A surprising number of respondents (37 per cent) said they expected interest rates to rise by the end of the year and 36 per cent said rates would remain unchanged. Only 27 per cent expect another rate cut this year.And according to QBE LMI's Mortgage Barometer Report, 59 per cent of people rate property as unaffordable. Despite the big fall in interest rates over the past year, one in four said that prices were so high they couldn't afford what they wanted.Eighty-four per cent of prospective first-home buyers said property prices were close to or above what they could afford. Twenty-two per cent said they might never own a home.Two out of three reported some financial stress, with 41 per cent saying their cost of living had increased. Other stress factors included loss of a job, reduction in work hours, reduction