The survey of 2,000 people who get paid monthly found 49% make unnecessary purchases as soon as they get paid.

A third of people said they spent between £41 and £60 on socialising on the first weekend after payday. But half said they spent most of their disposable income on food, with a third changing their eating habits towards the end of the month due to being skint.

Over half of women said they made unnecessary purchases as soon as they got paid, compared to only 38% of men. Women were twice as likely as men to use their overdraft every month.

The research conducted by Paymentsense suggests those with the highest amount of disposable income, over £1500 a month, don’t tend to spend any more than a tenner within the first 72 hours of being paid and those with the lowest amount of disposable income, less than £100 a month, spend 22% of it within 72 hours.

Younger workers admit to having an online shopping basket ready to be ordered as soon as they get paid.

But it seems that we don’t always get wiser as we get older – over a quarter of 45-54 year olds rely on their credit card to get them through the month.