Latvians tend to overspend mostly on food - poll

RIGA - People in Latvia tend to overspend mostly on food, according to a poll carried out by Norvik Banka.

The poll showed that 72 percent of respondents, women and men alike, admitted spending more than they had planned, when buying food. Also, 39 percent of respondents overspend when buying clothing and footwear and 24 percent overspend on gifts to their relatives and friends.

Overspending is more widespread among women than men. Female respondents exceed their budget mostly when buying food (73 percent), clothing and footwear (43 percent), gifts (27 percent) and cosmetics (12 percent).

Women are also more likely to fall for the goods offered at discounted prices (62 percent) while men pay more attention to the quality of goods (46 percent). In addition, women mostly overspend on clothing and gifts but men on electronic household appliances. Men tend to be more reluctant to try new products than women.

Drawing up a shopping list is one way to avoid overspending. Shopping lists are used by 61 percent of respondents (66 percent of women and 57 percent of men).

The poll was carried out in February 2018 by Snapshots pollster among 700 residents of Latvia aged 18-74 years across the country.