Spending Habits Change During A Recession

For nearly 18 months now, the United States economy has officially been mired in a recession. While many experts predict that the recession will end sometime during the second half of 2009, people are still feeling pinched. You can probably think of areas in your own life that you have cut back on as the economy has worsened, and there are probably line items in your budget that you could eliminate if you needed to save some money.

A recent survey showed that most Americans would be willing to cut their satellite of cable TV service faster than just about anything else. Only 37% of the people surveyed said that they feel the money they spend on Cable TV is a good value, and 40% of those responding stated that cable or satellite TV would be the first thing to go if they needed to cut costs.

Part of the reason many of us are so willing to go without cable TV is that we’re finding way to be entertained and watch our favorite shows elsewhere. Websites have popped up all over the Internet that archive episodes of countless TV shows, and network television sites allow for many of their most popular shows to be viewed online with limited interruption from sponsors. Services like Netflix allow users to stream movies straight to their computer as well. If you can save between $50 and $150 a month by watching your favorite shows and movies online, it becomes an easy cost to eliminate.

When asked which non-essential items they are least likely to do without, the cell phone was the top answer. It’s hard to imagine life without a phone in your pocket at this point. One in six households in the country is completely wireless now, with no landline service in their home at all. This number is expected to keep growing. High end cell phones like Research in Motion’s popular Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone are seeing strong sales growth in spite of the difficult economy.

In past recessions, technology is an area that has managed to do well. During the recession of the early 1990’s, the number of homes with a personal computer increased substantially even though the economy was struggling. During the recession at the beginning of this current decade, cell phone usage was on the rise in spite of a falling economy. People seem much more willing to cut out expensive vacations and dinners at fancy restaurants than the latest gadgets during recessions, and this one appears to be no different.

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