International Journal of Commerce and Management Research

Authors
Madhumala Pathy

Abstract
People save so that they can consume more in the future. A decision to spend now or save is really a choice of when to spend – now or in the future. The decision depends on wealth, disposable income, real interest rates and tastes or preferences for spending now or later. People have different behaviour towards savings and disparities in income levels. There are people who believe that money obtained today must be used to meet present needs and the future will care for itself. There are others who also hold the view that no matter how little one’s income is there is the need to save part of that income. This paper is based on study of rural household savings behavior. The study is conducted through primary survey with 50 rural households of Cuttack district. The determinants and patterns of saving differ from rural to urban region. There are also thousands of villages that still remain inaccessible, without electricity or basic sanitation facilities, where the population enjoy no steady source of income and are regularly exposed to the perils of famine, flood or cyclone. On the whole rural poverty in India has alerted the world. It is generally believed that rural India is poverty stricken. The rural people after meeting their subsistence are left with very little income to save.