The Piece of Plastic’s Temptation: Do You Have A Secret Credit Card?

Are our shopping sins and habits about to be exposed to all? A new study has revealed that Britain is a nation of secret spenders. More than one million Brits have a secret credit card that they use to hide extravagant purchases from their partners.

The poll, carried out by Debenhams Personal Finance, showed that women are most likely to use their card to buy clothes and shoes, while our male counterparts often use theirs to pay for expensive gadgets and alcohol. We're wondering when this poll is coming to Ireland...

Just over half of UK adults lie to their loved ones about the number and price of items they buy. Of those who tell the merchandise myths, six in ten lie to their partners and a third hide the truth from their parents.

Secret spending methods included keeping a secret stash of cash and a total of 1.18 million adults have a secret credit card.

We have all mentally docked 40 per cent off that new handbag we really shouldn't have picked up last week, or knocked a zero from the end of that gorgeous pair of shoes that would have been a sin to leave behind. But are us Irish as secret with our spending as our neighbours?

Results showed that for the secret spenders, 14 per cent said they were embarrassed to be seen splashing out during a recession and 18 per cent were “ashamed” of their extravagance. It seems Irish shoppers could have some very similar results to the British survey.

Mike Hazell, from Debenhams, said: "Our research shows that during these difficult times, people are becoming less extravagant with their lifestyles.

"Instead they are choosing to play down the true cost of some of their purchases and in some cases even hiding it.

“They admit to feeling guilty or even embarrassed about splashing out on luxuries at a time when many of us are experiencing a strain on our personal finances.”

We've come to the conclusion we don't want our shopping sins exposed just yet, here's hoping Debenhams hold off on bringing the survey to Ireland anytime soon...