Indians lose Rs 1 lakh a year to mystery spending

NEW DELHI: Who would have thought that the harmless snack you gobble up in canteen or leisure shopping could add up to an annual drainage of Rs 1 lakh a year?

According to a recent survey on spending patterns conducted by YouGov and Visa, Indians lose nearly 60% of their weekly expense of Rs 3,260, to mystery spends. Mystery spend is the unaccounted for spending in the household budget. The survey was conducted among Indians residing in metros with a monthly income of Rs 15,000 or more.

The biggest black hole is snacks, which comprises 65% of the mystery spending, followed by food and groceries (48%), leisure shopping (48%), coffee breaks (43%) and entertainment like night-outs, movies and parties (40%). This means that Indian consumers are spending Rs 65,000 a year on buying snacks alone.

Another important and expected finding is that the younger generation, in the age group of 25-34 years, is using a higher proportion of cash for their mystery spends.

Among the Asian markets, India came in third with 60% weekly mystery spend, the top spot being taken by Thailand at 72%, followed by China at 66%. The study was conducted across Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.