Australians have been exemplary savers over the past few years but there is growing evidence that the big household savings push may be coming to an end.According to the latest St George Bank-Melbourne Institute Household Financial Conditions Report, the proportion of households adding to their savings fell more than four percentage points to 42.8 per cent in the March quarter.The proportion of households drawing on their savings was 15.6 per cent - the highest level in almost 20 years.According to the Reserve Bank, Australia's household savings ratio fell from around 20 per cent of disposable income in the early 1970s to around zero by the early 2000s. The pattern reversed in the second half of the 2000s and the current savings ratio is around 10 per cent.St George Bank retail banking general manager, Andy Fell, said: "We could be at a turning point, with a growing number of people starting to spend more of their savings."Fell said: "What we're hearing from our customers is that they've been focused on saving money and reducing their debt levels since the financial crisis. They now feel they are in a better position to spend more."However, Australians are still taking a cautious approach to spending overall."While St George's view is that the drop in savings reflects a more confident attitude to spending, another view is that households are feeling the squeeze.Canberra University's National Institute for Social and Economic Modelling reported that wages rose by 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, while living costs rose by 0.7 per cent. NATSEM's index of living standards has dropped in three of the past five quarters.Last week, ING Direct released its Household Financial Wellbeing Index, which showed that the median household savings level in the March quarter was $14,702 - down from $15,472 a year earlier.The number who said they were making extra payments on their mortgages fell from 49 per cent in the December quarter last year to 42 per cent in the March quarter. ING Direct said Australian households were maintaining their focus on increasing savings, with 82 per cent of respondents saying they would use an increase in salary to reduce debt and add to savings. However, they are finding it harder to achieve those objectives.