Over half of UK adults plan to cut spending: Survey

Over half of British adults admit they are planning to cut their spending this year in a move to cope with spiraling household bills, a new survey has found.

In the research, commissioned by the consumer body Citizens Advice, some 53 percent of Britons said they will have to curb their spending in 2014 in a struggle to pay rising household bills in the UK.

About 58 percent of those surveyed also expressed worries over the effect of higher bills on their finances.

Furthermore, of those Britons who were reported to be planning to cut down, 59 percent said they would reduce the amount spent on food, 37 percent said they would reduce the amount spent on gas and electricity, and 66 percent on time out with family and friends.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said the research shows that “the household budgets of half of the UK are under serious scrutiny to try to find savings.”

“The soaring cost of living will force millions of people to cut back on basic necessities,” she added.

The findings come a few months after all of the UK’s Big Six energy companies raised prices, with the average annual dual-fuel bill almost reaching £1,500 currently in Britain.