Survey of consumer attitudes toward budgeting and bill paying

A just-released quarterly survey by Javelin Research and Western Union delivers a revealing look at how consumers are controlling their budget and paying bills during the ongoing economic crunch. Over the past six months, 39% of consumers report having had trouble paying bills and 14% of consumers report having bills in collections, which is a 1% increase from first quarter.

The latest Western Union Money Mindset Index finds that now, more than ever before, consumers want control of their budgets. They are using a variety of bill payment strategies as a means to accomplish this; from prioritizing which bills get paid first to adopting walk-in/urgent payment, web and social media payment channels.

Survey Findings

37 percent of consumers are prioritizing which bills get paid first.

33 percent of consumers are only making the minimum payment on bills.

20 percent are paying “more” bills after the due date.

13 percent have defaulted on one or more bills.

12 percent are using “same day payment” options more often. Rent, mortgage, primary credit card and tuition are most likely paid via “same day payment.”

Gen Y, ages 18 to 34, is more likely to pay bills using “same day payment” than the average consumer.
44 percent report paying “more” bills online in the past six months.

Overall, primary credit cards are most likely paid online, followed by store-branded credit cards, cell phone and cable bills.

Medical bills are most likely paid via snail mail.

Consumers report paying more bills overall.

Survey Methodology

In May 2011, Javelin Research surveyed 3,003 consumers about their current behaviors and emotional mindset regarding debt and personal finance issues. The Western Union Payments’ Money Mindset Index has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points. The random sample survey targeted respondents based on representative proportions of geography, gender, age, income, and ethnicity as compared to the overall U.S. population.

John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  Follow him on Twitter here.

Categorised in: Credit Cards, Debt, Money & Identity, Saving Money

This post was written by John Ulzheimer