Millions of Britons are preparing to tighten their belt and cut back on expenditure, foregoing luxury items in an effort to save money, it has been suggested.

According to Alliance & Leicester, nearly 35 million Britons have made some form of financial cutback to meet the demands of various living costs such as food expenditure, energy bills or debt reduction.

More than a third (34 per cent) of respondents said that they expect their disposable income to be reduced in the coming six months, with 79 per cent attributing this expected drop to the rising costs of food, energy and consumer goods.

Clothes shopping was said to be the habit most people were looking to cut back on, while some 36 per cent of people said that they expected to socialise less in the coming months.

Emma Walkley, current account manager at Alliance & Leicester, said: "many of us are feeling the pinch and looking for ways to cut back. The good news is that people are taking action now and looking at ways of making their money go further."

In March, Alliance & Leicester noted that debt reduction and other financial matters were becoming a prominent topic of conversation among friends, families and colleagues.