Consumers should be focusing on getting their finances in shape to aid their own situation and the country’s economic recovery, it is suggested.

Many people are already behaving wisely by increasing their savings and looking to debt management to reduce their outgoings, explains Adrian Lowcock, senior investment adviser at Bestinvest.

"The quicker savers and borrowers re-organise their finances the better for the economy," he adds.

"Indeed, the speed at which investors are doing this reflects the speed at which the economy has plummeted into recession."

The interest rate now stands at 0.5 per cent following six months of cuts by the Bank of England – good news for those with existing tracker mortgages but bad for people relying on their savings.

Capital Economics believes this reduction in the interest rate, coupled with the recession, has led many Brits to change their debt management attitudes.

It says more people are paying off their debts instead of saving any extra money they have, although it also warns that this trend may not last.

UK economist Vicky Redwood explains that this change in attitude is borne out of difficulties in refinancing, low interest rates and falls in asset prices.