Many Australians avoid bank balances over money stress

Compare Club has released research showing that 62.7% of Australians have avoided checking their bank balance because they feared what they would find. It also found that 78.3% have lost sleep over money worries.

The poll of 1,000 Australians points to broad financial strain in households, with respondents reporting secrecy, arguments and disrupted sleep linked to money pressures.

More than four in 10 respondents, or 42.8%, said they regularly or occasionally avoid looking at their bank balance. The findings also showed that 43.5% said financial stress had worsened their anxiety, while 48.3% said they had lied to a partner or family member about money.

Among those surveyed, 34.9% said they had pretended to be asleep to avoid talking about money with a partner or former partner. Another 41.9% said they had hidden a purchase from a current or former partner, and almost 15% of that group said the most expensive concealed item had cost $1,000 or more.

Sleep impact

The survey identified several ways money worries were affecting sleep. Of the 78.3% who said they had lost sleep over finances, 53% said they replay financial scenarios in their heads and cannot switch off, while 39.3% said they wake feeling panicked about money.

Another 28.1% said they had checked their bank accounts in the middle of the night. Some 26.6% reported insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns, and 14.3% said they rely on alcohol or sleep aids to fall asleep.

Housing costs were the leading cause of lost sleep. Mortgage repayments were cited by 31% of respondents and rent by 28.2%, followed by electricity bills at 11.1% and groceries at 10.5%.

Kate Browne, Head of Research at Compare Club, outlined the scale of the problem in remarks accompanying the research.

"There's a difference between not knowing what's in your bank account and being too frightened to look. When almost two-thirds of Australians are deliberately avoiding their balance, that's a pretty confronting sign of how much financial pressure people are feeling. We've all had those moments where we'd rather not know how much we've spent, but this research suggests something much bigger is going on. People are lying awake worrying about money, putting off looking at their accounts and even pretending to be asleep rather than having a conversation about the household budget. Unfortunately, ignoring your bank balance doesn't make the bills disappear. It just means you could be missing opportunities to get your finances back under control," Browne said.

Household strain

The findings also suggest financial pressure is fuelling tension in personal relationships. More than one in five respondents, or 21.2%, said money arguments had led to periods of not speaking to a partner, while 16.3% said one partner had slept in another room.

A smaller group reported more severe consequences. Some 6% of respondents said an argument about money had permanently ended a relationship.

Browne said money had become an increasingly difficult subject at home. "Bed should be somewhere you switch off, not somewhere you calculate whether you can afford next week's groceries or the mortgage. What really concerns me is the number of people reporting disrupted sleep, panic and worsening anxiety because of their finances. It seems that in the current economic environment, money stress follows people to work, their relationships and even into bed at night," she said.

The survey was conducted in October among 1,000 Australian respondents. Compare Club said the results reflect pressure on household budgets across essential spending categories.

It also argued that consumers should review major recurring bills. Browne said households may be able to cut spending by reassessing products and services including health insurance, life insurance, energy and mortgages.

"Money has become the conversation nobody wants to have, even with the people closest to them, even if it means pretending to be asleep to avoid the topic," Browne said.

She also outlined what she described as practical steps for households under pressure.

"The good news is that you don't need a pay rise or a lottery win to start getting some money back into your budget. At Compare Club, we've calculated that households could potentially save around $4,000 a year by reviewing and switching across health insurance, life insurance, energy and their mortgage, depending on their circumstances. My advice is to start by looking at your bank balance, however uncomfortable that might feel, and then take a proper look at your biggest bills. You might be surprised how much you're paying for products that no longer suit your needs, or how much you could save by switching to the best deal in the market. And these days doing this can take as little as a 15-minute phone call," Browne said.