Experiences are taking priority over discretionary spending on physical belongings in households’ budgets, research indicates. Nine in 10 (88%) people surveyed across the UK would be inclined to redirect spending that might otherwise go on buying discretionary items towards lived experiences, according to the survey for Mastercard. About seven in 10 (71%) said that lived experiences are more important to them than ever. Ahead of the summer holidays, Mastercard’s study, created with Trend Hunter, found two thirds (65%) of people are prioritising in-person experiences this year to balance out time spent online. A similar proportion (62%) are planning to attend events where the use of smartphones and other connected technology is discouraged or prohibited. The research also found that travel and tourism is the top choice for people planning to spend on experiences this summer, followed by food-related experiences, live events, films, heritage experiences and theatre performances.…