January 22, 2013. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center recently carried some data on how Russians think of their financial status and on how they are planning to spend their money in this new year 2013. The center analysts observe that the Russian citizens’ estimates of their own economic situation improved considerably last year and reached an all-time high: the corresponding index came to 68 points compared with only 58 points a year earlier. About 12% feel that their economic situation is ‘good’, while 72% estimate their status as ‘average’. The share of those who think of their financial status as ‘bad’ dropped from 20% to 16%, SKB-Bank reports.

At the same time, most Russian people do not expect their financial situation to change dramatically this year, and see their primary strategy in ‘keeping up with the majority of families in town’. In order to keep up with the Joneses, they have already planned for some large-scale purchases this year, the most popular investment target being remodeling (about 20% of respondents intend to have their apartments remodeled in 2013). 16% of those surveyed would like to book a vacation, 9% wish to buy a car, and 9% are considering the educational services market.

Buying furniture (6%), video-recording devices and cameras (6%), computers and mobile phones (5%) are also among the top ten most popular planned purchases. About 6% of respondents are going to buy gym membership. 5% of those surveyed are planning to look at the real estate market and buy an apartment. In case their savings are not enough to make these plans come true, bank loans are available to help customers with their dreams. SKB-Bank, for instance, offers loans of up to 1m RUR without any security or guarantors.