One interesting finding was that 32% of people did not bother taking the time to research whether they were getting the best rates when dealing with banks.
25th November 2013
More than half of us smuggle our own snacks into the movies to save money, according to a new study on the interesting methods Australians use to stretch their dollars
Almost 53% of people admitted to taking BYO snacks to the cinema. The survey also found that 22% of people will re-use a teabag to make it go further; 68% pocket the toiletry items when they stay at a hotel; and 69% will go more than 2km out of their way to avoid paying ATM fees.
The research took place as part of Heritage Bank’s Number 1 for Value campaign, being rolled out across Queensland this month. Almost 1500 people around Australia took part in the survey, which probed how people tried to get the most for their money.
“As Australia’s biggest customer-owned bank we’re always looking for ways to help people save money so we were really interested to find out what people are already doing to achieve this,” Heritage CEO Mr John. Minz said.
“What we found is that Australians love saving a dollar, and in some cases, go to great lengths to do this. This provided some interesting insights into the saving behaviour of Australians, which included ways we wouldn’t necessarily recommend to others.”
One interesting finding was that 32% of people did not bother taking the time to research whether they were getting the best rates when dealing with banks. Similarly only 34% of people had switched banks to avoid paying fees on their accounts.
“People might be missing out on big savings because they just don’t take the time to shop around for a better rate,” Mr Minz said.
“Customer-owned banks like Heritage can often provide better rates because we don’t pay dividends to shareholders. We’re all about giving customers great value, not making huge profits.”
In other findings:
· Over 64% of Australians have no problems haggling to get a better price, even at home
· 30% of Australians will share a meal rather than buying two
· 12% of Australians scan truss tomatoes as normal tomatoes at the self-checkout
· Over 84% of people will wait for an item to come on sale, rather than buying it when they want it
· Over 67% of Australian household freezers are stocked with meat bought on sale or in bulk
· 13% of people have offered to collect cab money in the hope there will be enough so they don’t have to put in
· 32% of people will fill their soap dispenser with water to make it go further.
· 22% of people have taken things from an all-you-can-eat buffet to snack on later
· 62% of people always pay off their credit card at the end of each month to avoid interest
Source: Heritage Bank Limited