Snacks, not luxuries, hit the British wallet
New research reveals that the real cause of major high street spending is not luxury purchase but the simple cost of the British lifestyle.
Data obtained by online bank Egg shows that 'daily lifestyle purchases' rack up a total of £1,380 a year for the average UK resident, compared to the figure of £1,134 spent on holidays.
Last year, the amount spent on 'big ticket' purchases such as cars and holidays fell by 6.7 per cent, while day-to-day spending increased by 3.1 per cent.
Fizzy drinks, chocolate and cigarettes featured strongly on a list of inexpensive but frequently purchased items responsible for hitting British wallets.
Yet the impact of these costs has not been reflected in the priorities of British shoppers, with only 49 per cent claiming to monitor their day to day spending.
'It is fascinating that as consumers we spend more on soft drinks, cigarettes, and snacks as we do on going away on holiday, yet keeping track of this spending is not a priority for most people,' said Egg chief executive Mark Nancarrow.
'Whilst we carefully shop around when choosing our holidays, we rarely monitor how and where we spend our daily cash which, ironically, is where the bulk of our spending money goes and where prices appear to be rising.' | 
