Men ‘spend more time worrying about personal finances than taking action’

London -  Men are more likely to “fret” about their finances as compared to women, instead of taking action to put them in order, a new study has found.

According to the survey of 1,226 adults from Treasury backed NS and I, three-quarters of people generally worry about their cash flow but around four in 10 of them admit to spending more  time fretting than taking action.

Of those who are worried about the state of their budgets, a larger proportion of men than women said they spend more time worrying than planning, at 45 percent compared with 37 percent  of women.

Researchers found that people who plan their finances save almost double the amount each month than those who spend more of their time just getting stressed about them.

Those who spend more time worrying than doing something about it typically put 53.47 pounds aside each month, while those who plan more manage to save an average of 104.39 pounds.

This equates to around 600 pounds more each year being set aside by those who plan their savings, a sum which is enough to cover a standard rate gas and electricity bill for around six  months, the report said.

“Britons seem to be getting into a cycle of financial fret. Time is spent worrying instead of focusing on money management and finances suffer as a result, causing more stress,” the Daily  Express quoted John Prout, NS and I savings spokesman, as saying.

The study also found that one in 10 people who said they worry about their finances on a daily basis only actually check the state of them once a month.

Meanwhile, around a quarter of those who manage their finances will regularly monitor different accounts to ensure they are getting a competitive rate, while a similar proportion have direct  debits set up from their current account into a savings account.

A quarter of people surveyed do not worry about their finances at all, and more than half of these people use price comparison sites or vouchers to save cash.

More than a third of those who do not worry about money at all trawl a selection of shops to compare prices before parting with their cash and a quarter said they try to take more  time-consuming but cheaper forms of transport.