Australian households are reining in their non-essential spending and building their savings, according to a new survey.
Comparison site Mozo surveyed just over 1000 people last month and found that around 60 per cent are saving more and spending less, compared with their pre-COVID behaviour.
Thirty-nine per cent said they planned to spend less on non-essentials, such as dining out; 29 per cent are building an emergency fund; and 15 per cent are saving for a home.
Mozo’s findings are backed by official data, which shows a big fall in new personal lending, a substantial fall in credit card balances and also in the number of credit cards on issue.
Mozo said that in a survey late last year 67 per cent said personal debt was “a necessary part of everyday life” and only 10 per cent said they expected to be free of some personal debt.
In the latest survey 25 per cent said they were committed to eradicating their debt.