More than a third of Brits (37 per cent) are planning to spend less on birthday gifts this year, according to Fool.co.uk.

The personal finance website states that this is just one of the luxuries people are intending to reduce their expenditure on in preparation for the looming recession.

However, it seems men are continuing to be traditional romantics despite current concerns over shrinking budgets.

Revealed by the NS & I Quarterly Savings Survey today, 40 per cent of males plan to pay for everything on a date, with 41 per cent willing to go into debt to play the gentleman.

Moneysupermarket.com stated earlier in the year that men are not just paying extra for women at the start of a relationship either, with the average boyfriend or husband spending £1,326 a year on anniversary gifts, flowers, holidays and meals.

Women on the other hand, were reported to spend quite a bit less in comparison, splashing out just £659 on birthday gifts and other items for their loved ones.