04.08.14
Q1 of 2014 is closed and tax deadlines are approaching, which means many Americans may be putting thought into where their money has gone in the recent past and where it might be going in the near future.
According to results of a recent Harris Poll, while attitudes haven’t changed overwhelmingly since last December, some shifts in plans for the next six months may indicate that Americans are questioning their financial prospects over the next few months; that said, looking further back it’s clear that American financial attitudes are greatly improved from where they were a few years ago.
The Harris Poll included 2,234 U.S. adults surveyed online between March 12 and 17, 2014.
According to the poll data, Americans are more likely than in December to say that they plan on decreasing their spending on eating out at restaurants (59%, up 4 points) within the next six months, along with being less likely to say they will save or invest more money within the next six months (52%, down 6 points), that they will have more money to spend the way they want (34%, down 4 points) and that they will buy a new computer (23%, down 5 points) when compared to last December.
Americans’ attitudes are close to or unchanged from December levels in many areas, including the likelihood that they’ll reduce spending on entertainment (54%, down 2 points), take a vacation away from home lasting longer a week (39%, up 1 point), move to a different residence (17%, down 1 point), buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van (15%, down 2 points), purchase a house or condo (holding steady at 8%), start a new business (8%, down 2 points) and buy a boat or recreational vehicle (unchanged at 4%).
Looking back at activities done over the past six months to save money, numbers haven’t changed much from December findings. Six in ten Americans (59%, up 1 point) say they have been purchasing more generic brands, just over four in ten (42%, holding steady from December results) say they’ve been brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it and just over a third each say they’ve been going to the hairdresser less (36%, up 2 points) and that they’ve switched to a refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water (34%, up 1 point).
There have been some slight increases in cutbacks, with over one-fourth (27%, up 3 points) saying they cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions and nearly two in ten (18%, also up 3 points) saying they’ve cut down on dry cleaning.
Women are more likely than men to report that they’ve been purchasing more generic brands (65% women vs. 52% men) and going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often (44% women vs. 28% men), and that they’ve switched to a refillable water bottle (37% women vs. 31% men).
As might be expected, those with children in the household may be feeling the squeeze more than those without, as they are more likely to report several cutbacks over the past six months. For example, stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (24% with vs. 17% without), or cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone (22% with vs. 16% without), according to the poll.
According to results of a recent Harris Poll, while attitudes haven’t changed overwhelmingly since last December, some shifts in plans for the next six months may indicate that Americans are questioning their financial prospects over the next few months; that said, looking further back it’s clear that American financial attitudes are greatly improved from where they were a few years ago.
The Harris Poll included 2,234 U.S. adults surveyed online between March 12 and 17, 2014.
According to the poll data, Americans are more likely than in December to say that they plan on decreasing their spending on eating out at restaurants (59%, up 4 points) within the next six months, along with being less likely to say they will save or invest more money within the next six months (52%, down 6 points), that they will have more money to spend the way they want (34%, down 4 points) and that they will buy a new computer (23%, down 5 points) when compared to last December.
Americans’ attitudes are close to or unchanged from December levels in many areas, including the likelihood that they’ll reduce spending on entertainment (54%, down 2 points), take a vacation away from home lasting longer a week (39%, up 1 point), move to a different residence (17%, down 1 point), buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van (15%, down 2 points), purchase a house or condo (holding steady at 8%), start a new business (8%, down 2 points) and buy a boat or recreational vehicle (unchanged at 4%).
Looking back at activities done over the past six months to save money, numbers haven’t changed much from December findings. Six in ten Americans (59%, up 1 point) say they have been purchasing more generic brands, just over four in ten (42%, holding steady from December results) say they’ve been brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it and just over a third each say they’ve been going to the hairdresser less (36%, up 2 points) and that they’ve switched to a refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water (34%, up 1 point).
There have been some slight increases in cutbacks, with over one-fourth (27%, up 3 points) saying they cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions and nearly two in ten (18%, also up 3 points) saying they’ve cut down on dry cleaning.
Women are more likely than men to report that they’ve been purchasing more generic brands (65% women vs. 52% men) and going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often (44% women vs. 28% men), and that they’ve switched to a refillable water bottle (37% women vs. 31% men).
As might be expected, those with children in the household may be feeling the squeeze more than those without, as they are more likely to report several cutbacks over the past six months. For example, stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (24% with vs. 17% without), or cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone (22% with vs. 16% without), according to the poll.