With interest rates at record lows and stockmarkets plumetting, the question of what to do with that hard-earned cash seems to have taken over from property prices as the stock dinner table/water cooler conversation.
"I might as well stick it under the mattress" is the conclusion many battered savers have reached and, proving that nothing is sacred from the claws of capitalism (not even the bed you lie on), one company has produced a product to appeal to those who are, quite literally, planning to do just that.
Bed company Feather and Black has come up with the Safe Bed – a divan bed with a safe cunningly concealed in a drawer in the base. The safe is big enough to store a stack of notes, says the company, or valuable belongings such as jewellery.
"Confidence in banks has hit an all-time low and fears of a recession crime wave have been raised by the home secretary," says the firm's managing director, Robbie Feather, employing the fear factor technique to draw the punters in. He admits the Safe Bed started as a tongue-in-cheek idea, but now the company believes it might actually be on to a winner.
There are a couple of obvious downsides to the money-spinner. The price tag for the double bed is a not-so-credit-crunch-friendly £949. And then there's the matter of concealment; the safe, or drawer hiding it, should be concealed with a valance or "a chunky throw" says the company. Divan? Valance? This is sounding more and more "granny bed", and not something that is going to set the hearts of the Ikea generation racing.
It's not an entirely daft idea: sales of household safes have soared in the past year, so the company is meeting a demand. And there are plenty of other even more daft ways for people to conceal their cash, ranging from wrapping it in tin foil and putting it in the freezer to hiding it inside a child's toy. You have to hope that one doesn't get thrown out of the pram.
So have you got your cash stashed somewhere less conventional than a bank? Is it in a Feather & Black bed, or are you considering a new home for your money? Go on, tell us where – you don't have to include your address ...
