Crisis impact reshapes spending: how Italians try to save money

But this is not the only perceived rising cost: 80% of Italians believe that the rise in fuel prices is also causing a more general increase in the prices of goods and services.

Coming under the axe is what is considered expendable, i.e. spending on leisure (30%) or restaurants (20%). Fears have also increased the need to set aside savings for future spending (33% of respondents decided to do so), while the majority of those who do not do so say they do not have the opportunity to save (45%) and only 17% because they do not consider it necessary.

People are spending less and spending differently: 68% have changed their purchasing habits by opting for cheaper products, cheaper brands or by choosing offers. However, in general what is happening is that 38% are reducing their spending and 16% are postponing it. And among the postponed purchases there are also important investmentssuch as a car or a house: this applies to 32% who have already postponed and 22% who are thinking of doing so.

Although the percentage variations between one age group and the next are quite small, there is a divarication that mainly concerns the greater perception of current affairs. In this case, the most shaken are adults (75%), followed by young people (69%) and at the back the elderly (66). Looking to the future here, however, concern envelops young people in particular along with adults: 82% fear a worsening of the economic situation.

The most pronounced differences concern how they react. For example, the most willing to sacrifice leisure time are young people (35%), less so the elderly (29%) and even fewer adults (28). On the travel front, however, the proportions are reversed, in this case it is the youngest who do not give up. As for savings: young people (41%) think more about it than the elderly (26%). Also because it is precisely among the latter that there is the highest percentage, one in two, of those who say they do not save because they do not have the possibility to do so.

Similarly, the burden of price increases seems to weigh heaviest among the elderly, who are in the lead in terms of perception of the increases (83% versus 75% of young people and 78% of adults). But it is the young who are most willing to postpone important purchases (21% versus 16% of adults and 18% of the elderly).

 Gographically speaking, it is the southern regions (86%) that are most apprehensive about fuel availability in the coming months. Not least because they are the areas of the country (72) that have felt the fuel cost increases the most. And it is always here that fuel increases are affecting the household budget: 56% compared to 50% in the North and 46% in the Centre.

Three data confirm that this is the most fragile territorial context. The first: here there are 54% of those who declare that they will not save for the future because they do not have the possibility to do so. The second: 43% of those living in this distribution - and this is the highest figure - declared that they are adopting a general reduction in expenditure as a strategy to deal with rising costs. The third: here is the highest percentage (38%) among those who admitted to having postponed major purchases.