Motoring, sports betting or streaming: what are you spending more on?
One of the continuous questions which so often crosses our minds from day to day is, what are we spending our money on?
And how many more of us Brits are thinking it now, more so than ever, as we’ve entered a cost-of-living crisis?
Online Betting Guide (OLBG) conducted thorough research to produce their Discretionary Spend Index, revealing the truth about how well we’re handling our finances during such economic uncertainty, when it comes to disposable income.
Believe it or not, OLBG found despite the purse strings tightening in some cases, most Brits are still managing to splash out more cash than they ought to on discretionary costs.
The average Brit is spending over £13,000 a year on luxuries (12 main categories were included in the research), which is over 60% more than in 2019-20. That’s over £1,000 per month!
So, what are the main categories for discretionary spend covered in the OLBG Index, and which of them are eating into our bank accounts the most?
Read on, as we breakdown the three of the most common discretionary spend categories, showing how much is really being spent on each of them.
- Motoring
A cost many of us are more than familiar with, one of the main categories explored was the expense of buying, fuelling, and maintaining vehicles.
As it stands, motoring is in fact the second highest discretionary spend out of all 12 categories in the Index.
With fuel costs reaching record highs this year, it shouldn’t be too shocking to hear that Brits spend over £3,000 annually on motoring — which is over £1,000 more than in 2019-20.
This is just under a quarter of your entire discretionary spending for the year.
If you’re wondering what’s eating away at your finances the most, it’s safe to suggest motoring would be a good place to start.
Sports betting
Next, the annual spend on sports betting and gambling.
Unlike the significant spend above, gambling accounts for just 1.9% of the average Brit’s annual discretionary spend.
On top of this, there was less than a fiver in the increase of expenditure from 2019-20, with Brits spending £267 annually in 2021-22 on sports betting, lottery tickets, casino gambling, and more.
However, there’s always room to be more conscious of your spending, from the largest expenses down to the most incremental outgoings.
OLBG reflects this perfectly, with their useful guide to safe gaming and betting.
Taking the time to explore guides like this can be a great way to experience gambling in a manner that’s as enjoyable as it is responsible.
Streaming
Last – but actually, least – is forking out on our favourite streaming services.
We’re all accustomed to the triple-drum sound of the Netflix intro, or the big, curving glow of the Disney+ logo.
But while we’re wrapped up in our latest binge, are we failing to notice how much we’re actually spending on these services?
Once again, OLBG is there to do the hard work for us, as they reveal the average Brit spends £49 a year on streaming services.
This makes streaming the lowest of all 12 discretionary spends on the OLBG Index.
Despite subscriber numbers dropping recently, due to price increases and password-sharing blockages looming, Netflix saw a 29% increase in subscribers from the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2019.
Considering this is the lowest of all the 12 spends, it may not be the worst thing for households to still indulge in their favourite movies and box-sets.
Maybe just be cautious of how many services are running at once, when you can easily pause charges on the rest whilst focusing on one.
These are merely a few of the figures uncovered by OLBG, but be sure to keep monitoring their Index as it will update every quarter, to give us a running picture of how Brits are spending their money during this crisis.
