英国调查：女性花钱比男性更谨慎

It may come as a shock to husbands fond of accusing their wives of frittering the family finances on shoes and handbags, but a study has found that women are in fact better at budgeting than men.

Women keep track of their spending and are less likely to build up debts through loans and credit cards, according to new research.

Men are more prone to ignoring mounting debts and forgetting to pay bills, whereas women chip away at credit card bills with regular repayments, the study found.

The survey of 3,000 Britons by Lovemoney.com found that men have an average debt of £2,176 on their credit cards compared to £1,987 for women. Men tend to spend their money on gadgets and rely on credit to cover the costs, it found.

A spokesman for the money management website said the findings gave the lie to accusations that women are irresponsible with their money.

“For years, women have been thought of as the big spenders, splashing their cash on clothes,” he said.

“But it seems men are gaining their own reputation when it comes to managing their finances while women are learning how to handle their money.”

A quarter of men admitted they often repay credit card bills late or forget them altogether, compared to 17 per cent of women who make the same mistake.

一项研究发现，女性在花钱方面其实比男性更有计划，这可能会让那些总爱抱怨妻子爱买鞋买包的丈夫们感到吃惊。

这项最新调查表明，女性会记录自己的开支，而且因贷款和使用信用卡而背上债务的可能性较小。

调查发现，男性往往不理会越来越多的积压债务，而且常忘记付账单，而女性则会按时支付信用卡的账单。

这项由Lovemoney.com网站开展的、针对三千名英国人的调查发现，男性信用卡上的平均债务为2176英镑，而女性为1987英镑。另外，调查还发现，男性爱买配件、器具等一些小玩意，而且喜欢用信用卡支付。

该资金管理网站的一名发言人说，这些发现表明，认为女性花钱无度的说法是不符合实际的。

他说：“多年以来，女性一直被认为花钱无节制，把很多钱花在买衣服上。”

“但在理财方面，男性似乎更有一套，而女性仍在学习之中。”

四分之一的男性坦称，他们经常拖延支付信用卡账单或干脆忘记支付，而相比之下，只有17%的女性会犯同样的错误。

Vocabulary:

fritter: to waste time or money on things that are not important 浪费（时间、金钱）；挥霍

budget: to be careful about the amount of money you spend; to plan to spend an amount of money for a particular purpose 谨慎花钱；把…编入预算

chip away: remove or withdraw gradually 逐步瓦解、消除