A new study released by the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre has found that consistent saving can improve our wellbeing and how well we sleep!
How Does Saving Affect Our Wellbeing?
The University of Bristol’s research report investigated the positive impacts that saving can have on our wellbeing, both in the short and long-term.
They found that those who save money:
- Tend to have higher mental wellbeing scores
- Were more satisfied with their lives, with 47% of non-savers reporting being ‘mostly’ or ‘completely’ satisfied with their lives, compared to 63% of those save who £300-£399 a month
- Were more optimistic about the future
- Slept better at night
They found that saving helped to improve wellbeing by:
- Removing the need to borrow and take on debt through creating a safety net
- Preventing hardship by having an emergency fund. 12% of those who hadn’t saved in the past 10 years were behind on their bills in 2021-22, falling to 2% among those who managed to save every other year
- Building financial resilience to help meet financial goals. They tracked a group of young adults since 2011, finding that 82% of those who regularly saved in five or six years of the six-year survey waves had become homeowners after 10 years, compared to 15% of those who never regularly saved
How Does Saving Affect Our Sleep?
The above chart shows the University of Bristol’s findings when it comes to savings and our sleep. As you can see, those who saves more tended to be more likely to report sleeping well.
As has been explored by us at Red Star before, financial concerns can have a significant impact on our mental health, just as our mental health can also affect our finances. And our mental wellbeing can then in turn affect our sleep…
“Some people are naturally lighter sleepers or take longer to get to sleep while others might sleep badly because of anxiety, worry over stressful events or other life challenges
There are lots of things that can influence how well we sleep, such as our current physical or mental health, our upbringing, things that happen to us, and even our temperament.” –NHS Website
As stated by the NHS, many factors can influence the quality and quantity of our sleep, and included in this is stress and worry, and what’s one huge thing that can cause us stress and worry? You guessed it… our finances!
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute found that out of 5,500 people with experience of mental health problems, 86% said that their financial situation had made their mental health problems worse. On the flip side of this then, positive financial habits, such as regular saving, can help improve our wellbeing!