With falling interest rates, a bull market in equities and a recovery in the residential property market, bankers might be expecting to see the wealth effect kick in and perhaps some growth in demand for credit. But a batch of new consumer surveys indicates the mood is still cautious.According to Dun & Bradstreet's Consumer Credit Expectations Survey, fewer people expect to increase their level of household debt this year. Expectations for household debt are at their lowest point in three years, with 18 per cent anticipating their debt will increase in the March quarter. This compares with 22 per cent and 26 per cent for the past two quarters. D&B said consumers increasingly favoured spending from savings rather than credit, which means that people are trying to spend within their means.Correspondingly, more people say they don't expect to have difficulty meeting their credit obligations - 55 per cent compared with 48 per cent last September.BT's Australian Financial Health Index also found that Australians remain conservative in their approach to debt, with more people paying off their credit card accounts in full each month and fewer people resorting to debt to meet expenses. ME Bank's Household Financial Comfort Report shows that 63 per cent of Australian households were somewhat or very comfortable with their ability to manage their monthly expenses. Fifty-five per cent were somewhat or very comfortable with their current level of debt.What does worry consumers is that they are finding it hard to save. According to the BT survey, people are addressing immediate debt issues successfully but few are doing any long-term planning. More than half said they were unable to save as much as they would like; 57 per cent have no regular savings plan and 48 per cent rarely or never make contributions to a super plan.Seventeen per cent said they would struggle to find A$500 to $1000 to deal with an emergency.ME Bank's survey also found that people were worried about their ability to save or have spare money for discretionary spending. Fifty-three per cent said they did not have any cash left over at the end of the month for saving. Twenty-two per cent were very uncomfortable with their level of savings.Mortgage Choice surveyed consumers in December and found that more than half of the respondents (52 per cent), planned to cut back on spending in 2013 and review their home loan. When asked about their level of personal savings, 32 said they were satisfied, 38 were unsatisfied (down from 49 per cent a year earlier) and 30 per cent were neutral.