Cautious Brits spend A YEAR AND A HALF of their lives agonising over whether or not to buy things, according to new research.

A nation-wide study into our spending habits has revealed Brits will spend an average of FOUR hours of every week contemplating over whether to make new purchases, that’s more than 8 days a year - or 17 months over the course of an adult lifetime.

Researchers from AO.com surveyed Brits as part of their annual shopping trends report ahead of Black Friday - and revealed we are an ANXIOUS lot when it comes to spending our hard-earned cash, taking an average of 10 minutes to decide to buy a take-away and an average of twenty minutes weighing up the pros and cons of buying a new item of clothing.

When it comes to larger items, 22 days will be spent deliberating over whether to upgrade the kettle, 40 days (nearly 6 weeks) will be spent deciding on whether to buy a new bed and five whole weeks (36 days) is needed to come to a decision on buying a new cooker.

Of those surveyed, 46 percent of Brits claim they are very indecisive when it comes to making shopping decisions, while three quarters said they hate parting with their cash.

The poll revealed the average worker will spend 29 minutes looking at purchases online when they’re supposed to be working, that they may or may not make.

The study revealed 33 days (nearly five weeks) is the required time for indecisive Brits to take the plunge and buy a new washing machine or fridge.

The poll found 18 percent of shoppers said they are wracked with guilt after they have bought something new and 45 percent said they feel terrible after they have treated themselves to something expensive.

AO.com’s Director of Customer Experience, David Athertonoffers some practical advice to consumers; “With Christmas coming up, buying decisions can sometimes be difficult as it’s the busiest time of the year and many companies offer substantial discounts on key products.

My advice would be to have a strategy, impulse buys can be great and often lead to a bargain or two but if you know what you’re looking for, you’re likely to stay within or even come under your budget.

Deals can also be a great decider on whether or not you want to purchase an item”

Reading online reviews, asking the opinion of family and friends and calculating whether we can afford it are common things to do whilst agonising over new purchases, the poll found.

But 37 percent of Brits have been left kicking themselves when they deliberated for so long over whether to buy something that when they finally decided to go for it, it had gone.

A desperate 21 percent of adults have even deliberately broken something so that they can go out and buy a brand spanking new replacement.

The poll found 34 adults regularly row with their partner about their differing approaches to making new purchases.

DAYS IT TAKES TO DECIDE WHETHER TO PURCHASE
New house 86
New car 53
New cooker 36
New fridge 33
New sofa 42
New washing machine 33
New pet 41
New kitchen 56
Honeymoon 44
New bathroom 52
New bed 39
Holiday 46
New laptop 35
New shoes 24
New TV 36
Christmas present for my other half 33
New outfit 25
New dining room table and chairs 39
New toaster 23
New kettle 22

MINUTES IT TAKES TO DECIDE WHETHER TO PURCHASE

New lipstick 14
A take-away coffee 10
A sandwich for lunch 11
A take-away on a Friday night 18
Dinner to cook that night 20
Homeware (cushions, throws etc) 25

ENDS

Contact harriet@gingercomms.com for more details