Families ‘save £300 during lockdown’

THREE-QUARTERS of British households have saved money during the lockdown, according to new figures.

UK households have saved an average of £300 on day-to-day expenses as they stop going to restaurants and the cinema, and slash fuel bills as cars sit largely unused up and down the country.

Not paying gym memberships and TV sports packages have also saved a fifth of households money.

However, many households are still struggling, as 19% reported to comparethemarket.com that they worry about making ends meet in this week’s figures.

Although high, the figure was a drop from 20% last week.

Meanwhile, the proportion of households who struggled to manage their finances over the last week dropped two percentage points to 16%, the lowest since the survey began in April.

“We are starting to see green shoots of financial confidence from UK households, but the bad news still outweighs the good news - the savings households have managed to make during lockdown may offer some temporary respite however, when lockdown lifts, the cost of living will go back to previous levels, rainy day funds have been raided and borrowing will need to be repaid,” said Anna Mcentee, product director at comparethemarket.com.

“People are still very worried about the longterm hit their finances will take .”