The research from KDB has also revealed the full extent of the north-south financial divide.

Taking the UK as a whole, the typical household has some 40,000 of disposable wealth, but this figure oscillates wildly depending on where you look and indeed where you live.

An average London family will possess 81,732 in readily-accessible cash, while the Midlands sees this figure reduced to 31,939 and Scots find themselves cut somewhat adrift with a typical 29,724 waiting to be spent.

The gap, however, is closing the Scottish figure was in fact a 35 per cent increase on that of 12 months ago while north-westerners and the Welsh, with 32 per cent and 31 per cent rises respectively, also saw notable and much-welcomed rises.

London may top the charts, but its disposable income figure has only escalated by two per cent, while usually-affluent south-westerners only saw a seven per cent appreciation.

Matt Boot, chief analyst at KDB, commented on some of the factors behind these fresh figures.

He said: "Early signs in 2006 show an upturn in housing values along with continued stock market growth, and this has swelled the amount that households can really lay their hands on.

"Although absolute disposable wealth levels per household still show a marked north-south divide, the gap is closing, and the smart money for growth is in the Midlands and above."

This is heartening news for many Brits but also indicative of how volatile and changeable such figures can be, with many variables lying behind them. In turn, this shows how carefully-laid spending and saving plans can change due to a variety of factors, be they economic or personal.

Therefore the role of a payday loan becomes clear. If at some point you find that you do not have quite as much available cash as you had budgeted for perhaps if some inconvenient extra expenses have come your way or if a special occasion has arisen which urgently needs catering for then some short-term cash might be invaluable to offset any problems this may cause.

A sum of between 80 and 1,000 can help you foot the bill for that one-off event or occasion, or can buy you time to readjust to changing circumstances. The short term loan is repayable at a convenient time your next payday and harbours no extra charges or caveats save for the explicitly-stated repayment rate of 25 for every 100 borrowed.