Americans Cutting Back on Everyday Expenses to Save Money

Over three quarters are purchasing more generic brands; two in five brown-bag lunch and re-use water bottles

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Jul 06, 2011, 06:04 ET

NEW YORK, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans say they expect the economy to get worse in the next year, and their recent behavior shows a buckling-down and cutting-back mentality, possibly in preparation for hard times ahead. Over three quarters of Americans have begun purchasing more generic brands to save money (67%), up from six in ten who said they did this in February (61%) and the highest number reporting doing so since the question was first asked two years ago.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,163 adults surveyed online between June 13 and 20, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

And, it's not just labels that Americans are cutting back on. The recent poll, which has been asked 7 times since June 2009, shows that now Americans are doing each item listed as a way to save money more than they did in February of this year, and either slightly more than or equal to the levels these things were done one year ago, in June 2010.

Other findings include:

Slightly more people today are brown-bagging their lunch as a way to save money (46%) than did so in either February or October (45% in both) and the number of people using refillable water bottles rather than purchasing bottles of water is the highest it's been since June 2009 (39%);
Currently more than two in five Americans are going to the hairstylist or barber less often (43%) as a way to save money. The only other time this number has been greater than two in five was 20 months ago, in October 2009 (43%);
In terms of Americans' media consumption, three in ten have cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions to save money (31%), up from 30% in February and 27% in October. One in five U.S. adults have cut back on cable TV service (22%) and slightly fewer say that they have cancelled a newspaper subscription (18%);
Now a quarter of Americans say they have cut back on dry cleaning as a way to save money (24%) which is up from the 21% who said they did this in both February and October;
One in five have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (21%), a number which has more or less stayed constant since October 2009; and,
While some Americans have cancelled their landline telephone service, changed or cancelled their cell phone service or begun carpooling or using mass transit as ways to save money, these don't seem to be the top priorities as fewer than one in five say they have done each of these things every time the questions were asked.

So What?

While there are some differences in the changes older and younger Americans are making to save money—for example, older Americans who may no longer work are less likely to report beginning to brown bag their lunch, carpool or use mass transit, or purchase coffee in the morning—what is clear is that most Americans are making some changes in order to cut back on expenses. While making more careful spending decisions may be good for a household budget, continual cutting back doesn't do much to help the overall economy grow. It seems a balance will need to be reached to make Americans feel secure in their own household's finances as well as comfortable enough spending to allow the country's economy to grow once again.

TABLE 1 SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS "Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?" Base: All U.S. adults
		Have done	Have considered	Have not done or considered	Not applicable
Purchasing more generic brands	%	67	10	16	7
Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it	%	46	6	11	38
Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often	%	43	7	25	25
Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water	%	39	9	21	31
Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions	%	31	6	19	44
Cut down on dry cleaning	%	24	3	14	58
Cancelled or cut back cable television service	%	22	22	39	18
Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning	%	21	5	17	58
Cancelled a newspaper subscription	%	18	8	30	44
Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone	%	16	19	42	23
Changed or cancelled cell phone service	%	14	15	53	18
Begun carpooling or using mass transit	%	14	8	26	51
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2 SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS – TREND OF HAVE DONE "Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?" Percent saying "Have done" Base: All U.S. adults
		2009		2010			2011
		June	Oct	Feb	June	Oct	Feb	June
Purchasing more generic brands	%	62	64	63	65	62	61	67
Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it	%	47	47	45	48	45	45	46
Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often	%	36	43	39	38	37	38	43
Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water	%	33	36	34	39	37	35	39
Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions	%	29	34	33	31	27	30	31
Cut down on dry cleaning	%	20	22	22	24	21	21	24
Cancelled or cut back cable television service	%	19	21	22	22	22	22	22
Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning	%	15	20	21	22	22	21	21
Cancelled a newspaper subscription	%	17	21	19	17	17	16	18
Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone	%	11	12	15	15	17	16	16
Changed or cancelled cell phone service	%	14	15	17	15	17	14	14
Begun carpooling or using mass transit	%	13	14	14	12	14	13	14
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3 SPENDING/SAVINGS OVER PAST SIX MONTHS – BY GENERATION "Have you done or considered doing any of the following over the past six months in order to save money?" Percent saying "Have done" Base: All U.S. adults
	Total	Generation
	Total	Echo Boomers (18-34)	Gen. X (35-46)	Baby Boomers (47-65)	Matures (66+)
	%	%	%	%	%
Purchasing more generic brands	67	62	68	68	69
Brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it	46	54	58	46	17
Going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often	43	41	47	47	34
Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water	39	45	43	35	30
Cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions	31	15	34	37	36
Cut down on dry cleaning	24	16	21	30	28
Cancelled or cut back cable television service	22	20	24	25	15
Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning	21	19	27	24	12
Cancelled a newspaper subscription	18	14	16	22	19
Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone	16	19	21	15	5
Begun carpooling or using mass transit	14	21	16	11	9
Changed or cancelled cell phone service	14	15	17	13	10
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between June 13 to 20, 2011 among 2,163 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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The Harris Poll® #80, July 6, 2011

By Samantha Braverman, Sr. Project Researcher, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive