Australians confess to $1 billion vices

Thursday 04 February 2010

Article by Mozo

Financial comparison website Mozo.com.au has found that Australians are spending $1 billion on vices — and the figure is rising.

Mozo launched its Vice Calculator late last year to allow Aussies to measure how much their daily vices – be they drinking, shopping, smoking or coffee – are costing them.

The $1 billion cost recorded so far represents a range of vices that are hitting people in their pockets, with fashion weighing in as our most-indulged vice at a current tally of $350 million.

Perhaps surprisingly, gadgets rank second at $210 million while booze is a distant third at $95 million.

Rohan Gamble, managing director of Mozo, said: "With this campaign we set out to get some enlightening insights into the spending habits of everyday Australians, but who would have guessed we’ve become a nation of fashionable geeks?

"With most individual vice calculations in the $100s of thousands it will be interesting to see just how many people will be spurred into action and make changes to their spending habits."