One in five of those who make a budget are still dipping in to savings and using credit cards to make ends meet, the research also reveals.
Four in five Britons are now setting themselves a budget, new research from PayPal has shown.
According to the firm, the credit crunch and recent price rises have led to a newly-conservative attitude among many people who did not previously set constraints on their spending. However, PayPal also pointed out that some of this group were continuing to lapse into bad habits by overspending.
The research shows that around 50 percent of those who budget find the process "stressful", while almost 60 percent make their spending plans vulnerable to being broken by including essential costs only. Unsurprisingly, one in five of the group said that their overspending even led them to make up the difference with their credit cards or savings.
Carl Scheible, managing director of PayPal UK, commented: "British households have seen their financial commitments change significantly over the last 12 months and with energy prices soaring, mortgage payments still high and the cost of food increasing at a record pace it is encouraging to see people reacting to this by trying to keep their financial 'house' in better order.
"However, as our research shows, setting a budget and then sticking to it are two very different things. It's concerning that so many people claim to keep to their budget, yet still rely on credit cards or savings for basic living costs. The consequences of this kind of strategy are soaring credit card bills and no savings to fall back on, which is dangerous territory."
