It may come as a shock to husbands fond of accusing their wives of frittering the family finances on shoes and handbags, but a study has found that women are in fact better at budgeting than men.

Women keep track of their spending and are less likely to build up debts through loans and credit cards, according to new research.

Men are more prone to ignoring mounting debts and forgetting to pay bills, whereas women chip away at credit card bills with regular repayments, the study found.

The survey of 3,000 Britons by Lovemoney.com found that men have an average debt of ￡2,176 on their credit cards compared to ￡1,987 for women. Men tend to spend their money on gadgets and rely on credit to cover the costs, it found.

A spokesman for the money management website said the findings gave the lie to accusations that women are irresponsible with their money.

“For years, women have been thought of as the big spenders, splashing their cash on clothes,” he said.

“But it seems men are gaining their own reputation when it comes to managing their finances while women are learning how to handle their money.”

A quarter of men admitted they often repay credit card bills late or forget them altogether, compared to 17 per cent of women who make the same mistake.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)