Debt fears heightened by unstructured spending?

The debt concerns of many individuals in the UK may be exacerbated by their reckless spending of wages, new research has suggested.

A study carried out by R3 found a considerable number of adults struggle with their finances as they approach payday because their previous month's salary has already been used up.

The investigation revealed more than four-in-ten earners in Britain (42 per cent) find it difficult to stretch their money across a four-week period.

Of these, 11 per cent struggle on a regular basis and 31 per cent do so occasionally.

It was found the most common day for this cash to run out is the 20th after receiving wages, which is just shy of three weeks.

The organisation identified a number of factors why people are finding it tough to make their funds last.

Of these, the most common cause was credit card payments.

Such costs were cited by 35 per cent of those who often or sometimes struggle to make it to payday.

Spending on non-essential items was also earmarked by respondents, with 25 per cent stating forking out payments of this kind can land them in monetary trouble.

Furthermore, 15 to 17 per cent said paying off bank loans, meeting mortgage repayments and big-ticket purchases were behind their struggle.

Steven Law, president at R3, described the statistics as "very worrying", especially with the current record levels of personal insolvency.

Recent research carried out by Barclays showed almost three-quarters of Brits are out of touch with their personal finances as they over-estimate their bank balance by an average of £70.73.

By Joe White