An online survey by Virgin Money to find out just how many of us hide purchases from our significant others has revealed startling results.

The survey showed that 80 percent of respondents admitted to hiding purchases from a spouse or partner while four percent claimed that their other half left them once they found out about the sneaky spending.

The survey revealed a sharp difference between the sexes when quizzed about the nature of the covert shopping.

When it came to the fairer sex (women, in case you were wondering), 76 percent said their secret shopping was for shoes and clothes, 11 percent said it was for jewellery, four percent for handbags, four percent for naughty bedroom toys and three percent for perfume.

The most astonishing find regarding sneaky spending by women has to be the two percent who said they bought cars and apartments without their other half knowing!

True to form, 41 percent of men said that their untold purchases were on technology like big screen TVs, (they didn’t say how they managed to watch a TV in secret), while 19 percent said it was spent on clothes, 16 percent claimed sporting goods and nine percent admitted to secretly buying adult magazines and movies.

A staggering nine percent owned up to buying cars and apartments without telling their other while six percent bought gifts for the mistresses.

When it came to how much was spent on these purchases, 63 percent of the purchases were for less than R500, 19 percent spent between R500 and R1000, 10 percent between R1000 and R3000, five percent between R3000 and R7000 and one percent between R7000 and R10 000. A wily and very wealthy two percent confessed to spending more than R10 000.

When it came to fessing up, 65 percent of respondents in the survey said that they later confessed to the clandestine buys but got varied reactions — 62 percent of respondents said their other half’s reaction was mild annoyance and 22 percent laughed it off. Only two percent said their partners were incandescent with rage while 10 percent reported that their partners were not amused but accepting.

An unlucky four percent of people claimed that their partners had left them after owning up.

Of those who have yet to confess, 65 percent said they still plan to.

Have you ever lied to your partner about something you bought? What would you do if you found her or him lying to you? Leave your comment below...