Londoners are sacrificing commuter coffees and cheeky take-aways to balance their budgets ahead of the 2015 fare rises announced by TfL last week.
With the average fare increasing by 2.5% in the new year, 70% of tube travellers are forgoing treats to cope with the extra financial pressure of rising ticket prices according to research from MyCommute4Less.
The first frippery to be sacrificed will be a weekly take-away, according to 19% of Londoners, followed by a daily coffee at the station or a weekly magazine (both 18%).
Commuters aren’t just tightening their belts at the station, a worrying 17% said they would cut down on their weekly shop to make sure they could afford travel.
Kingstonians were most likely to make this severe cut with a massive 33% of them economising on food shopping, and 22% choosing to give up a night out and stay at home – without a takeaway!
The people of Wandsworth are obviously more dedicated to their Friday nights as only 6% of them would sacrifice a night out to make savings – preferring to cut back on everything else.
Not a single Kensington and Chelsea socialite would give up a night out, with weekly magazines also escaping the personal budget cuts – well you never know when you’ll be scouted for MIC!
Bookworms of Hammersmith & Fulham will be disappointed in their neighbours as they were the borough most likely to give up a weekly magazine or a daily newspaper to afford the fare rise.
Conversely the residents of Lambeth and Merton won’t give up their daily newspapers, with no one from either borough making the sacrifice.
Both boroughs preferred to give up takeaways than miss out on their daily news hit.
Caffeine fiends should stay clear of Richmond as 30% of them would give up coffee but they were holding fast on take-aways with less than 10% of them prepared to give up their favourite fast food.
MyCommute4Less aims to help commuters cut their costs by offering finance deals for annual travelcards.
Picture courtesy of Marco Hamersma, with thanks
