HOW bad does it need to get before an average American willingly goes frugal ? (sale, prices)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Im newly retired now and spend quite a bit of time in my local Starbucks on my Laptop so i get to see the traffic flow . One thing that has me perplexed, is, the general populus is in financial disarray from over-usage of charge cards ($31,000 for the average card holder Ive heard on TV) , jobs are in jeopardy or they have none, and the cost of living is rapidly rising ... yet places like Starbucks are cranking out $5-6.00 exotic coffee drinks in a frenzied state . I say this as i count a total of 8 Servers at my little Starbucks at 10 a.m. on this Friday morning.
Ive concluded that we Americans simply dont like to cut back on our spending , and feel entitled to get whatever we want whether in bad times or not and regardless of what we can afford . I guess our U.S. Government isnt much of an example with
its ludicrous spending and owing China the shirt off its back.
Im grateful i had Parents who bucked the common american culture and taught me how to not live beyond my means, to save while having some entertainment but not to excess, and to plan for the future instead of living for the time being.
So, im wondering HOW bad does the U.S. economy need to get before americans are willing to make severe cutbacks ? What does gasoline need to get up to....what do food prices need to be .... what financial state does our Government need to decline to.., before the general U.S. populus get alarmed enough to embrace frugality ?
Hey 7.5. This is an interesting post. I had wondered how long the effects of the economic implosion would impact Americans' purchasing behavior. Once my grandparents lived through the Great Depression, their behaviors were shaped for life. They were always ultra frugal. I'm grateful for those lessons because I remain frugal today. I'm not ultra frugal as they were, but I could get to that point in a nanosecond if the need arises. We have food stored, a small shack on a piece of land paid for to retreat to, if necessary. I think that budgeting, planning for your lifestyle (prioritizing how you will spend your income) and contingency planning for lost jobs, etc... is a crucial exercise. But from my general conversations, I think there are a lot of families out there who don't stop to plan in this manner. Granted, they have kids, demanding jobs and just make it through from day to day but again, prioritizing that time to plan and budget is crucial to family survival. I heard that the recent black Friday and Cyber Monday were the biggest in history so it appears that Americans are getting back to a routine of free spending. It would reallly tell the story to see how much of that money spent will be incurred debt (more than 30 days on a credit card) or was/will be paid from checking/savings. Have we learned our lesson to live within our means as Americans? I'm interested to know as well.
So, im wondering HOW bad does the U.S. economy need to get before Americans are willing to make severe cutbacks?
Those who NEED to make a cutback, and by that I mean they are conscious they have a need to cutback,
in large part have already done so. Most only grudgingly but they have done so.
This is why retail sales (absent Xmas) have been down all year.
Quote:
I say this as i count a total of 8 Servers at my little Starbucks at 10 a.m. on this Friday morning.
The rest, and by that I mean the 80% of working age adults who aren't un/under employed
or in a personal financial crisis (FC, BK, etc)... are tooling along just fine tyvm.
Their investment returns aren't as nice as they would like...
and yeah, they'll keep their car one more year before trading it in...
so they'll take the kids to Disney/Epcot for one week this winter
rather than the two weeks in the Caribbean they would prefer...
Hey 7.5. This is an interesting post. I had wondered how long the effects of the economic implosion would impact Americans' purchasing behavior. Once my grandparents lived through the Great Depression, their behaviors were shaped for life. They were always ultra frugal. I'm grateful for those lessons because I remain frugal today. I'm not ultra frugal as they were, but I could get to that point in a nanosecond if the need arises. We have food stored, a small shack on a piece of land paid for to retreat to, if necessary. I think that budgeting, planning for your lifestyle (prioritizing how you will spend your income) and contingency planning for lost jobs, etc... is a crucial exercise. But from my general conversations, I think there are a lot of families out there who don't stop to plan in this manner. Granted, they have kids, demanding jobs and just make it through from day to day but again, prioritizing that time to plan and budget is crucial to family survival. I heard that the recent black Friday and Cyber Monday were the biggest in history so it appears that Americans are getting back to a routine of free spending. It would reallly tell the story to see how much of that money spent will be incurred debt (more than 30 days on a credit card) or was/will be paid from checking/savings. Have we learned our lesson to live within our means as Americans? I'm interested to know as well.
Hey. Just heard on the radio that two things are advised for getting ones finances back in order :
Those who NEED to make a cutback, and by that I mean they are conscious they have a need to cutback,
in large part have already done so. Most only grudgingly but they have done so.
This is why retail sales (absent Xmas) have been down all year.
The rest, and by that I mean the 80% of working age adults who aren't un/under employed
or in a personal financial crisis (FC, BK, etc)... are tooling along just fine tyvm.
Their investment returns aren't as nice as they would like...
and yeah, they'll keep their car one more year before trading it in...
so they'll take the kids to Disney/Epcot for one week this winter
rather than the two weeks in the Caribbean they would prefer...
hth
The interesting thing about America , is, no one really knows if a person can truly afford the material things or vacations they have in their life . This applies even to the guy in a new Ferrari that pulls up next to you at the stoplight . Alot of Americans buy things they cant afford to put on a show to people they dont know and probably wouldnt like if they did know them !
Heh. Did anyone else notice the irony in the fact that the OP is asking what will make people willing to be frugal ... from Starbucks which charges big bucks for frou-frou coffee?
The interesting thing about America is no one really knows if a person can truly afford the material things or vacations they have in their life.
No doubt.
But if everyone held off on accumulating stuff just because they didn't have the cash to pay in full (and similar tenets of frugality) then no one would get to be frugal as everyone would be doing it.
In the house forum this week there was a hot thread about McMansion's with some advocates trying desperately to defend their right to indulge themselves in such excess. One of these folks wisely included a "and can afford to do so" qualifier in a statement and (to my surprise) no one else brought up the equity aspect.
Apparently "if you can afford the payment you can afford the item" rules the roost.
Heh. Did anyone else notice the irony in the fact that the OP is asking what will make people willing to be frugal ... from Starbucks which charges big bucks for frou-frou coffee?
For my understanding, frugal does not equal austerity. That may be a once a month treat for him OR a once a day thing and he drives a 15 year old car. I enjoy discussing frugal philosophy but I try not to judge anyone else....unless they are mooching off of the system, then I have a voice. For instance, I bought a small cottage house that was within my means at the time. I was sooo proud of my little cottage with a fenced back yard and a small creek running through the back of it. Well, there were others whom I knew who would say things like, I thought you could afford a different neighborhood, etc... It didn't make me love my little house any less and even though I have moved on, I still love that little house, as do the folks to whom we now rent it. The moral of the story for me was that some of those very folks who made a judgement about how I chose to spend my housing budget, got in over their heads with their mcmansions and faced foreclosure. Do what you want with your money (legally). Don't judge others for how they spend theirs unless they begin to depend our our hard earned tax money to bail them out of their bad finanical decisions.
Heh. Did anyone else notice the irony in the fact that the OP is asking what will make people willing to be frugal ... from Starbucks which charges big bucks for frou-frou coffee?
No irony Friend ; I always get the $1.59 coffee thats on tap ... plus, i can well afford it
IMHO, Americans needs to consume LESS and invest MORE.
Investing includes buying investments, spending money to learn new skills, starting new businesses, etc.
I'm no expert in economics but I still believe frugality by itself will slow down the economy.. UNLESS the money saved by being frugal is used to invest in productive projects that'll increase our future standard of living.
But I doubt the idea of consuming less and investing more will be apparent to the average American anytime soon. Our education system fails to teach the average person how to succeed in a capitalist economy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
