A third of Britons (33 per cent) do not know where their salary goes after spending on the mortgage, bills and living expenses, according to the latest research.

Alliance & Leicester figures showed Britons have an average £276 left a month - a sixth of our salaries - after covering regular outgoings.

Nearly a quarter of people (22 per cent) spend their leftover cash on entertainment and eating out, 14 per cent indulge family, friends or themselves with treats and 13 per cent fritter their hard earned pennies on fashion.

The building society recommends putting the money aside for a rainy day although 19 per cent of people think they save enough already.

Over half of those questioned (56 per cent) managed to make some savings with the average amount ranging from £10 to £50 for 27 per cent of people, to £250 a month for 16 per cent of savers.

Many want to be better saver and 39 per cent of people told Alliance & Leicester they intend to change the way they approach saving this year

"It's clear that many of us would like to be better savers and the best way to get into the habit is to make regular monthly payments into a separate savings account — before we even get the opportunity to blow our spare cash on a big night out or a new pair of shoes catches our eye!" said Simon Ripton from Alliance & Leicester.