2008 Consumer Spending Part 1

I'm starting a new series of reports on consumer spending as I get the information from various sources over the next few months, I'll add more "parts"!

Here's some of latest research of the effects of the current US economy on how consumers are spending that extra cash:

Discretionary Spending Taking a Hit

Thunderstorms remain on the radar for the U.S. economy and consumers continue to feel the pinch.

According to the latest American Pulse Survey of 4,055 respondents, 61.7 percent are dining out less, 57.3 percent are driving less, 47.4 percent are attending fewer movies, 46.1 percent are forgoing department stores for discount retailers and 45.3 percent are cutting back on their vacation budget to cope with the current economic environment.

What is impacting consumer budgets the most (percent of those saying "very much")?

-- 67.9 percent say gas prices
-- 47.2 percent say groceries
-- 46.8 percent say home heating and cooling costs
-- 36.1 percent say taxes

One way consumers appear to be coping with pressures on the family budget is by learning a new shopping skill -- haggling for price. According to the survey, half of Americans (50.3 percent) report having negotiated for better prices on products other than a home or vehicle in light of the current economic situation.

Americans say they haggle the most for better costs on tires/batteries/auto repair (38.6 percent), followed by appliances (37.3 percent) and electronics (37.2 percent).

(Source: BIGresearch, 05/01/08)

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