London - If you’re guilty of being less than honest with your partner about credit card spending sprees, you’re not alone.
Research shows Britons spend an average of £1 600 (about R30 000) every year without telling their loved ones.
Clothes and shoes were among the most likely purchases to be kept under wraps, as well as other guilty pleasures such as electronic gadgets.
And even when we do admit to buying something we often lie about the cost – typically saying that it cost half of its true price, the survey of more than 2 000 adults revealed.
More than 9.5 million Britons spent money in secret last year or lied about the cost of an item, the research suggests.
For men, the most common purchases were clothes, electronics such as tablets and TVs, and sports equipment. Women tended to splurge on clothes, shoes, jewellery, designer make-up and handbags.
Also on the list for both men and women was alcohol, such as fine wine, items associated with a hobby, and kitchen appliances including expensive coffee machines.
According to the survey, carried out by LV= home insurance, the most common reason for keeping purchases secret was feeling guilty about the cost (42 percent), followed by fear that the spending might cause an argument (31 percent).
Nearly one in five people – 18 percent – said they had lied about buying an item or its cost because they didn’t feel their partner would appreciate the true value of the purchase.
Meanwhile, one in 12 had kept a purchase secret because they already owned a similar item.
Shopaholics disguised their spending sprees from loved ones in a variety of ways, according to the survey.
Common methods included hiding the receipt, done by 10 per cent, and throwing away the bag or packaging, which nine percent had tried.
Meanwhile, eight percent of people admitted they had pretended a new item was old.
Others simply resorted to lying about how much they had paid, knocking an average of 49 percent off the actual price.
Those surveyed were most likely to have hidden spending from their partner (60 percent) or their parents (39 percent).
Daily Mail