Winter is approaching, and many households realize it will be more financially demanding than previous ones. A third of Czechs have decided to save and postpone spending over CZK 10,000. If they have to buy something more expensive, apart from Christmas presents, it will be more about replacing old, non-functioning household appliances than shopping for pleasure.
Despite the current economic situation, half of Czechs will have to deal with higher expenses in the coming months, according to a recent survey conducted by Ipsos for the Zonky platform, part of Air Bank.
Christmas is just around the corner, so, understandably, people will spend mainly buying gifts for their loved ones. A fifth is also planning to replace household equipment, such as furniture, appliances, and heat source, typically the boiler. More enormous expenditures will be swallowed up by, for example, kitchen or bathroom renovations and the replacement of floors, windows, or insulation.
“Compared to a similar survey in May this year, respondents generally declined interest in acquiring extra items, such as a new car or a holiday. Spending larger sums are now approached more from a practical point of view. However, it is interesting that among the respondents, there is a new interest in jewelry or reproductive clinics, and more often in baby carriages,” added Petr Šmíd from Air Bank.
Few will be happy
Compared to the May survey, the number of people who plan to spend money to make themselves or someone close to them happy has decreased significantly.
Rather than just a few months ago, the reasons to please oneself or someone else was the main reasons why people planned to spend; now, only about a fifth mention them, and they are only third and fourth in order.
Nowadays, Czechs mainly need to replace old or non-functioning items with new ones, which was mentioned by one in three who expect to spend more.
And how will they finance all their plans? Three-quarters of those surveyed will dip into their savings. Others plan to borrow within the family (six percent), use a consumer loan (five percent), buy on hire purchase (four percent), or don’t know at the moment.