As with spring cleaning, getting one's personal finances in order has for too long been viewed as an arduous task, to be put off as long as possible and then gotten out of the way in a weekend binge.

Indeed, even with bad news concerning the rate of inflation coming thick and fast and the nation's banks and lenders getting stricter by the day, such an attitude is still prevalent across the UK, and whether it's consumers burying their heads in the sand or simply adopting an attitude of unnerving apathy, millions are paying the price.

According to the latest consumer spending habits uncovered by the website CreditExpert, as many as one in five Brits get round to sorting out money matters just once every six months.

What's more, only one in four of those polled in the study were able to accurately state how much they had left to pay back on either secured or unsecured loans, while a staggering ten per cent admitted that they had no idea how far in the black they actually were.

At a time when watching the pennies is even more important than ever and when online banking allows consumers to get up-to-the-minute checks on their financial status, while the internet has also allowed for savings in all other areas of outgoings, such an attitude is nothing less than completely inexcusable.

Michelle Slade, press and PR officer at MoneyFacts, commented: "I think people need to look at all their finances across the board.

"If you haven't ever switched gas and electricity, you can make savings, just log on to a comparison site and see if you can get a better deal. Also if you have got savings, look where they are being held."

What's more, as spending habits change, so too is it a good idea to change financial products accordingly.

Millions of Brits, for example, still insist on sticking to a current or savings account that may well boast a better-than-average rate of interest, despite the fact that their being consistently overdrawn makes such benefits completely irrelevant.

On a more positive note, spending habits across the UK have been seen to be adjusting to the challenges set by the global credit crunch.

As belts are tightened, plans for new cars and holidays are getting shelved indefinitely, while research carried out by the Daily Telegraph also found that even treats such as regular cinema trips or nights out at a local restaurant are becoming less common as people adopt a new sense of financial prudence.

However, such admirable sentiments may well prove to be just like spitting in the rain if consumers fail to implement changes across the board and get all aspects of their personal finances in order – even if this means commandeering the kitchen table for an arduous night of calculators and spreadsheets more than once every six months.