It’s official – men spend more than women on personal grooming and clothes, according to a new survey.
Men spend twice as much as women on taking care of their appearance.
The bill on their gym memberships, health and beauty products and fashion adds up to £800 a year (£70 a month).
Women still spend on their appearance, but £300 a year less than men.
Millennials ( 24 to 38 year olds) spend the most on their looks out of all the generations.
The research by investment consultants The Share Centre was aimed at finding out how much disposable income is wasted each year.
Fashion that never see light of day
Clothing was pinpointed as the most likely purchase not to see the light of day.
Men also topped women in wasting cash on fashion, with 15% of purchases either only worn once or not at all, compared to 11% for women.
The unused fashion price tag is an average £70 a year – which totals £2.4 billion a year that could be better spent on retirement savings or investments.
The survey quizzed 2,000 people about their spending habits, asking what they would do with £100 cash – spend or invest?
Most (57%) said they would buy clothes because they did not know how to invest or feared losing their money.
People feel good spending
“If people took the money they wasted each year on clothes they barely wear (on average £71) and had invested it instead then they would have saved up a healthy pot of money,” said The Share Centre’s investment and guidance manager Lucinda Gregory.
“Over three years, their £213 investment will have grown to almost £250, over five years they would have over £450 and if they kept this habit up over 10 years, their £710 worth of savings would have grown by almost 58% and would now be worth £1,120.
“We all want to look and feel good, so it’s no big surprise that people spend a large proportion of their disposable income each month on clothes and beauty. However, our research shows that often us Brits aren’t getting our money’s worth when it comes to what we’re buying, and that some items of clothing end up being eaten by moths at the back of our wardrobe.”
