Credit Crunch Reveals Financial Characters

People in the UK fall into different personality categories when it comes to dealing with financial issues, a new survey has shown.

According to a study by Freeview, the nation can be split into six different credit crunch characters: shrew, drifter, ostrich, alarmist, denier and opportunist.

Some 43 per cent of the population are 'shrews', the report claimed, and they monitor their finances and seek out good value deals. Some 71 per cent of self-identified shrews claim to be rarely in debt.

By contrast, eight per cent of Britons are 'ostriches', burying their heads in the sand and ignoring financial problems. The report suggested that 38 per cent of the people in this group do not always open bank statements.

'Drifters', accounting for 29 per cent of Britons, are not motivated by money, while the seven per cent of respondents who were classed as 'alarmists' were most likely to panic, with 66 per cent claiming to have cut back on spending.

Seven per cent of people are 'deniers', continuing to spend without addressing money problems, and six per cent are 'opportunists' - looking to cash in on economic problems, through buying lower prices property for example.

"Overall Brits seem to have a high level of awareness of the oncoming credit crunch, but the trick now will be to look at money-saving options," said researcher Professor Geoff Beattie.

A recent survey from Legal & General found that 60 per cent of people who are still willing to spend money in the face of the credit crunch are single. In April, however, six per cent more people were saving some money each month than in April 2007.