Most Portuguese families manage to pay their bills on time, but for 29% of Portugal’s households the monthly income is not enough to have any sort of decent life.
After paying all the bills, 39% of Portuguese are left without money for the rest of the month, with 38 % have "great difficulty" in paying all their bills and other monthly obligations.
The Consumer Payment Report, prepared by Intrum Justitia covering 21 European countries, reported that in Portugal 29% of the respondents say they certainly do not have enough money for a decent life.
Despite the current difficulties, most Portuguese have been paying their bills on time and 83% know exactly what expenses they have to settle each month. Respondents said that first to get paid is the rent, taxes, loans, insurance and credit cards.
The accounts that are paid later are traffic fines, mobile phone bills, Internet costs and any spending on education. In periods of financial difficulty, 91% of Portuguese cut back on eating out, 89 % on spending on clothes and 47% on buying food.
Nearly 90% do not borrow money to meet expenses but, when they need to they will resort to short term bank credit, credit cards, or family.
Over half of the respondents did not have any sort of cash reserve for unexpected expenses yet 30% manage to save a fixed amount each month.
A third are thinking about emigrating due to the financial situation in Portugal.
