Whisper it, but there’s a sense that the worst of the pandemic is over. Restrictions are easing, social groups are tentatively re-emerging – and expanding – and we can start to seriously contemplate all those rewards we’ve been promising ourselves.
And it’s those plans we’ve made for our savings that NS&I’s new piece of research has focused on. It wanted to discover what Britons have been saving for during the pandemic, to get a handle on the nation’s hopes and aspirations for life after lockdown. To do this, Ipsos MORI conducted an online survey among more than 2,000 people aged 16 to 75 across the UK on NS&I’s behalf, to find out what they have been saving for and planning to spend on in the next two years.
Brits were nudging an average of two holidays a year before Covid denied us that treasured time away from home, so it’s hardly surprising we’re keen to decamp for some much-missed vitamin D. In fact, according to NS&I’s research, 38% of those who have saved over the past 12 months plan to spend on a trip abroad in the next two years, while 28% have their sights set on a holiday in the UK.
During the lockdowns, 69% of us managed to save something – whether that was saving every or most months (39%), or just whenever we had it spare (27%). Dig a little deeper and the picture is slightly different for 35- to 54-year-olds, making up 44% of the group that admitted to not saving regularly (despite being just 35% of the sample).
It clearly wasn’t easy for everyone to squirrel away money. For parents, lockdown didn’t just bring the boundless joy of educating and spending more time with the kids. It was a bit of an expensive business too. Hungry mouths needed lunch (as well as breakfast and dinner) and – let’s be honest – bribing was at times necessary. Many a pack of Pokémon cards and Haribo were bought to ensure the pleasures of fronted adverbials weren’t lost to subsequent generations. Unsurprisingly, wine and gin consumption spiked as well.
But the mood is different now. Blinking, we emerge with new priorities.
In lockdown, the value we placed on outdoor space went off the scale. We turned to these spaces to escape the ceaseless stress (or eerie quiet) of our homes, breathe in some of that fresher-than-normal air and generally regroup. But while we were out there, we also couldn’t help but be critical. Almost three in five (57%) people who saved over the past 12 months have saved for home and garden improvements.
Looking in more detail, 9% of savers say they will be splashing out within the next two years on garden equipment (eg BBQ, trampoline, garden furniture, etc). And while no fewer than 16% of savers are planning a general tidy of the garden – not necessarily with evergreens – there’s another makeover just as popular. Whether you were stuck inside staring at the same four walls or occasionally ventured outside to stare at the exterior walls, those walls … they really could do with a lick of paint, couldn’t they? Emulsions and eggshells fill the heads of 17% of people who saved over the past 12 months.
More indoor space, be it an extension/conservatory, a garden office or a loft conversion (combined 9%) is also on a few savers’ minds, tempered, perhaps by the money required to realise this vision. And with less justification to adhere to our sparse, if eco-friendly, lockdown showering habits, bathroom renovations (11%) seem to be another vent for any larger wads of spare cash. For 14% of savers, meanwhile, the furniture they’ve sat on could find its days numbered.
Of course, we’ve all had different lockdown experiences. While some had virtually no contact with family, others … got plenty. But we’re a forgiving bunch. What else are we to make of the fact that 60% of those planning to spend their money on an experience – including holidays – say they will be doing so with family (versus 24% with friends, for example)?
Although we have some anxieties about the amount of money we have saved up – 37% agree they feel anxious v 33% who disagree – we are a pretty responsible bunch on the whole: only 23% of respondents agreed with the statement they would rather spend than save – while 44% said they would choose to save.
For all the transient joys of bulging carts and next-day deliveries, perhaps resisting temptation – diverting the money away from that pointless purchase towards somewhere it might grow, and eventually enable something more worthwhile – delivers the more durable high? Those who enjoy saving outnumber those who don’t by more than four to one, while 55% report being more cautious about how they spend their money than before the pandemic. And for every person who disagrees that saving for the future is important, there are 10 who agree that it is important.
That’s not bad for a group of people who have endured some pretty tough times over the past 15 or so months. We spend, of course, and not always on what might be strictly classified as vital. But if that juicer and that new bike make us healthier, or even dangle better health in front of us like a soon-to-be-pulped carrot, it’s no frippery.
And we also save – for the vital and extravagant items we can’t yet afford or have yet to discover. It can be every bit as thrilling a habit as binge shopping … just with better consequences.
Having something joyful to save towards can make putting money aside easier. Start saving for a sunny day with the help of NS&I. Visit nsandi.com for more information
Technical notes
Data collection was carried out by Ipsos MORI with all analysis and reporting conducted by the Guardian and NS&I. Ipsos MORI surveyed a nationally representative quota sample of 2,100 adults in the United Kingdom aged 16-75 using its online I:Omnibus between 5 and 6 May 2021. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age within gender, government office region, working status and social grade.
