Lying awake, staring at the ceiling, mind racing - a common scenario for many Brits as they struggle to sleep at night.
In fact, the average person in the UK says they would pay £113 for just one good night's sleep - and over a tenth would go so far as they’d pay anything (11%). It’s a sure sign that as a nation, we’re all feeling a little sleep deprived and in need of a little help.
With the cost of living climbing higher and higher, it’s no surprise that when VoucherCodes conducted our survey into exactly what is stealing our precious beauty sleep, the results clearly pointed to one major culprit: money worries.
That’s why VoucherCodes are not only giving you all our best budget-friendly sleep tips, but we’ve also teamed up with Founder of The Insomnia Clinic, Kathryn Pinkham, to provide expert advice to get you soundly back off to sleep.
Kathryn Pinkham is the founder of The Insomnia Clinic, the UK’s leading service for insomnia. She has been featured on ITV and has worked with major organisations including the NHS, to help individuals and employees improve their sleep and overall well-being. She created the highly acclaimed Sleep Well & Live Better course, which has helped over 5,000 people achieve better sleep.
Like what you hear? Read on to learn more about the nations’ sleep habits and hear expert tips on how to improve your own sleep.
Breaking down Britain’s sleep situation
The survey by VoucherCodes revealed that a staggering 48% of Brits lie awake at night specifically due to financial concerns - that’s nearly half the nation losing sleep over worrying about budgets, bills and bank accounts.
Founder of The Insomnia Clinic, Kathryn Pinkham, says “Stress – including financial stress – is one of the most common causes of poor sleep.
“When we feel anxious, our body shifts into “fight or flight” mode, designed to keep us safe in dangerous situations. While useful in emergencies, this state also keeps the brain alert and the body primed for action – which is the opposite of what we need for restful sleep.”
What’s worse is it’s not just a fleeting thought either. On average, Brits reported losing 3.72 hours of sleep a week due to money worries which equates to an astonishing 24 nights of sleep lost each year. Just think what you could do with an extra 2 nights sleep a month!
Whilst it’s clear financial stress impacts many people across the country, when taking a deeper look into whose sleep is affected most by money worries, our survey revealed that women appear to be more prone to sleep struggles of any nature with the exception of work stress and global political stress.
Unfortunately, our findings don’t bode well for the younger generations either, as they are far more likely to experience overall sleep problems. Millennials (aged 35-54) are most likely to suffer sleepless nights due to money worries and those aged 64 and over significantly less likely to suffer from financial-related sleep loss.
A deeper dive into the nation’s money worries
So, what exactly are these money worries that are keeping us awake at night? We dug a little deeper to ask brits to pinpoint their main concerns and the findings are no surprise. The cost of living crisis emerged as the top concern, keeping 44% of people from a good night's sleep, highlighting just how many of us face the evergrowing pressures to manage everyday expenses.
When it comes to concerns over the lack of savings or emergency funding there’s a notable gender difference. Three-tenths of women identified this as a key reason for their sleep struggles (30%), compared to only 16% of men. The exact reason for this disparity is hard to pinpoint, but it could suggest that women are generally more acutely aware of the importance of a financial safety net as they’re often the one to manage household budgets.
Breakdown by age:
- 18-24 year olds are most likely to lose sleep due to regretting a purchase.
- 25-34 year olds are more likely to be worried about providing for their family
- Those approaching retirement identified concerns over their income as the most likely reason to lose sleep.
- Pensioners and those aged 64 and above identified the main cause of their financial worries as pension, retirement and unfortunately the threat of fraud and scams.
The Next Day: how sleepless nights affect our behaviour
Struggling to function the day after a bad night's sleep? You’re not alone - 50% of Brits are affected by low mood, with a further 39% feeling anxious or irritable, followed by 37% finding it difficult to concentrate.
Gender differences were again apparent when looking into the behavioural consequences of a poor night’s sleep with males far more likely to perform worse at work (21%) than females (12%).
Unsurprisingly, the younger generations are more likely to spend money impulsively when tired either to alleviate stress or as a result of hindered decision making from lack of sleep. Almost one-fifth of 18-24 year olds admit to spending money impulsively when suffering from a bad night's sleep - this is likely to worsen financial stress in the long run and ultimately contribute to the continuous cycle. Whilst spending money can provide temporary stress relief, this is a habit that can add to your financial stress, and therefore one to avoid getting into!
How to rest easy
What to avoid
Before jumping into some tried and tested methods to help you fall soundly back to sleep, there are a few key things to avoid. “Don’t go to bed too early,” warns Kathryn “When we’re tired and not sleeping well, it’s tempting to head to bed earlier. But this can weaken your “sleep drive” (the natural appetite for sleep), making it harder to fall asleep. Instead, aim for a later bedtime and keep a consistent wake-up time to build stronger sleep pressure.”
Once you’re in bed, Kathryn advises “Avoid clock-watching – Checking the time at night increases anxiety and keeps the waking pattern going. Turn your clock away from view to help break the cycle.”
You should also avoid using social media right before bed. Whilst almost three-tenths of people in the UK use social media to distract themselves from their worries when they can’t sleep (29%), it’s actually been proven to worsen sleep and make it hard for us to drift off.
The light on your mobile phone disrupts our circadian rhythms (the 24 hour internal rhythms that control the sleep-wake cycle) meaning our body thinks it’s time to wake up, not fall asleep. Not only that, but the design of platforms like TikTok and Instagram encourage us to continue scrolling with each video giving us a little hit of dopamine which makes it harder for us to put the phone down and unwind ready for sleep.
And, it’s not only social media you should avoid before bed, or when you’re struggling to fall asleep - stay away from online shopping too. 7% of Brits say they regularly use online shopping to fill the time or distract themselves when they can’t sleep. But, whilst it can be fun, we’re unlikely to make our smartest financial decisions when it’s 2am and we’re sleep deprived.
Lifestyle changes
We often forget that sleep is closely connected to our general health and wellbeing. One of Kathryn’s top tips is to focus on “Lifestyle changes - If you’re exhausted don’t just focus on sleep but also your diet, exercise and relaxation to help you feel better and to reduce stress.”
Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are a budget-friendly and popular way to soothe yourself to sleep, especially if you’re feeling stressed. Whilst they’re easy to do, it can often be hard to know how to get started so having some guidance can be useful - at least until you’re a seasoned pro.
Breathing exercises (27%) and meditation (20%) are the most popular options, according to VoucherCodes’ study. For guidance on how to practice both of these techniques without breaking the bank, check out the Calm and Headspace apps. They offer guided meditation and breathing exercises as well as Sleep Stories to soothe you to sleep, without breaking the bank.
Calm offers a free trial for new users but this goes up to £39.99 (or £3.33 a month) once the full membership kicks in. Similarly, Headspace is currently offering 40% off for a limited time, but this goes up to £49.99 (or £4.17 a month) once you pay the full membership fee.
If this is a little out of your price range, why not check out YouTube? Although you won’t be able to access Calm’s full range of content, on their account you’ll be able to find and try out a few meditation and calming techniques to get you going.
If breathing exercises or meditation aren’t your vibe, you could join the 15% of Brits choosing to send themselves off to sleep with some white noise. Free options can be found on YouTube, but if you’d rather invest in a machine there’s plenty of affordable options on the market. Tesco, John Lewis, and Currys all sell white noise machines from as little as £15 to £30 - and with VoucherCodes you can even get a discount code or Reward on top of your purchase.
Positive distractions
When we struggle to fall asleep, it’s often the endless train of thoughts keeping us awake, so a distraction, such as a reading or a podcast can be helpful for quietening the noise.
If you’re not into reading, try a podcast as a positive distraction. Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular as a sleep tool, with one-fifth of Brits using them to help them drift off to sleep (20%)- and thankfully there’s lots of easily accessible and cheap options available. If you already have a Spotify subscription, you’ll find thousands of podcasts on there with everything from true crime, to comedy, to news. But, if you don’t have a subscription, don’t worry as you can also find lots of free podcasts on the free BBC Sounds app.
Another option is to write down your thoughts and worries to get them off your mind and onto the page. This method is easy and free with 11% of people saying it’s their go-to when struggling to sleep. Although most of us have an old notepad lying around at home, you might want to treat yourself to a dedicated sleep journal. Scribbler is a great option for affordable but fun stationery, and you can usually nab a discount or free delivery through VoucherCodes.
Long term advice for a sound nights sleep
When surveyed, 14% of Brits said they didn’t know where to start with seeking financial help, and a further 17% say they would love help from a sleep expert to soothe their stress and finally get a good night's sleep.
There’s many ways you can help yourself drift off to sleep at night, but the best long-term solution will always be to address the root cause. As Kathryn says you should “address the stress directly – It’s tempting to try to ignore or distract ourselves from worries, but this often means they reappear in the middle of the night. Instead, set aside time each day to think about them. What are you really worried about? What might happen? What’s the worst case? What’s most likely to happen? Writing down worries is very therapeutic and makes it less likely your brain will wake you at 2 a.m. to deal with them.”
You should also “separate the controllable from the uncontrollable”, advises Kathryn. “For worries you can influence, make a plan of action. For example, work out your finances properly, make a plan to earn more money or a plan to save or if you need a new job. Decide when and what you can do. For worries outside of your control, practice accepting that you are worried but also learn to let these worries drift away.”
As well as improving our sleep habits, if your financial stress is causing you to lose sleep you should also improve your financial habits. Citizens Advice, MoneyHelper and StepChange all offer free advice to help you on your journey to better financial health - whether that’s reducing debt, assisting with housing, working out what benefits you’re eligible for, or something else. They’re independent and free resources dedicated to helping people on their money journey.
Whilst some of us have come up with coping strategies such as checking our bank balance late at night (8%), or seeking financial support online (7%), in the middle of the night there’s not much you can do - it’s much better to wait until morning and approach the topic with fresh eyes.
As well as looking for external help, an easy way to reduce financial stress is to get a better handle on your finances - particularly your incomings and outgoings. Three-tenths of Brits have either made a budget, or altered their existing budget, to help them keep on top of their money and reduce their financial stress (30%) so why not join them and create your own budget?
Take a look at your most recent bank statement and categorise your spending. That way you can see exactly where your money is going and create a budget to fit. An easy place to start is the 50:30:20 rule, where you spend 50% of your earnings on essentials, 30% on fun things, and then save 20% as an emergency fund or to put towards paying off a debt. Whilst you might need to tailor the numbers slightly to fit your living situation, it’s a good starting point.
If you’re looking for more advice on how to have a sounder night’s sleep, or just want to learn more about Kathryn and The Insomnia Clinic, check out her website.
