CREDIT CRUNCH: Cambridgeshire people yet to change spending habits says new survey

DESPITE the doom and gloom of the credit crunch and spiralling living costs, people in Cambridgeshire have not drastically changed their spending habits, a new survey has revealed.

But figures released by Norwich and Peterborough Building Society show that it is families which have been hit the most by rising costs.

Many people in the county have cut down on holidays, meals out and clothes shopping, but few have stopped enjoying life's luxuries altogether.

The survey, conducted in N&P's branches in the county earlier this month, showed that 38 per cent were considering taking fewer holidays in the wake of rising costs.

Around 19 per cent of people polled said they would not be holidaying at all. But 39 per cent said they were still planning to go on holiday just as much as they were a year ago.

Twenty per cent of people in the county decided to stop spending in restaurants altogether, while 41 per cent said they had made the decision to afford fewer meals out. However, 35 per cent of people in the poll said they were still eating out as much as they did 12 months ago.

Spending on luxuries such as clothes and shoes was also highlighted in the poll as an area where people were trying to cut down

The N&P survey revealed that Cambridgeshire families are feeling the effects of soaring food and fuel prices the most, as almost 76 per cent of people with children said they were spending more on gas, electricity, petrol/diesel and supermarket shopping.

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society group product manager Gary Lacey said: "It is interesting that a large proportion of people in Cambridgeshire who took part in our survey don't appear to be taking drastic measures with their finances just yet. However our figures do reveal that families are being affected more than most by rising costs.