Money on our minds at expense of sleeping

MONEY worries are keeping us awake at night and forcing many people to constantly monitor their bank balances, alarming new figures found.

The rising cost-of-living pressures and slow wage growth are among the key factors impacting Australians’ hip pockets and resulting in people living week to week.

A new report released by investment firm Perpetual dubbed The What Do You Care About Project First Glance, quizzed 3000 Australians and found 34 per cent had money on the mind constantly, while 19 per cent admitted it was always on their mind.

Another 15 per cent conceded it was a constant worry.

Perpetual’s senior manager of client insights Gary Lembit said people’s thoughts were dominated by how they had to divide up their income, for instance on paying bills and other expenses.

“People are conscious about all the things they need to be spending money on,” he said.

“They are conscious about a lot of things, for instance responsibilities for their family and making sure they have all the things they need and that is daunting.”

The research also found 57 per cent of people regularly checked their bank balance. About about 46 per cent tried to avoid spending money on things they did not need.

As we edge closer towards Christmas it remains one of most expensive periods for households.