Credit crunch or no credit crunch, Britons can't be bothered with money

Survey reveals that many people aren't motivated to manage their finances

Despite the recession and the credit crunch, millions of Britons still find managing their finances "too boring" and feel they don't have the time to budget, a report from Bettermoneyskills.com has suggested.

Some 24 per cent of the adults surveyed by the money education website said they simply didn't have the time or the inclination to keep track of their finances. No wonder, then, that seven out of 10 said they had no idea how much money went out of their bank accounts each month. Of those who did know how much they were spending, nearly a third reported that their outgoings were higher than their income.

"The research indicates that many consumers are in denial about their financial situation because they don't have the basic financial skills they need, and don't know how to go about getting them," said Fiona Wilkinson, the head of corporate communications at Visa UK.

Ms Wilkinson's analysis seems to be borne out by the evidence from the survey, with half of consumers in the 18-35 age range admitting that they do not know what an annual percentage rate is. What's more, when a range of personal financial terms were put to the consumers, around a quarter did not know what a single one of them meant.