Spending and Saving

From Your Wallet to…Where?

Okay, okay, so you already knew that you’re spending less—or trying to. And that half your friends are preaching pocketbook prudence while the other half are pleading poverty.

But the folks at Chase, one of the few banks in the country still making money (just) have kindly cobbled together some stats to show how we’re spending ours—and how we’re not. (Download the document here.)

Last month we splashed out 15% less on traveling than a year ago, 5% less on eating out — and a whopping 22% less on bling.  We’re not even going to discount stores as much as we used to.

What are we doing instead? Staying in, it seems. Sadly, not so much to broaden our minds by reading a good book as to plonk ourselves on the sofa and take what comfort we can from the boob tube. Yes, some of us are cutting back our movie channels, but as a whole we’re stumping up 20% more on cable TV.

One more thing. Apparently high net worth earners kept their wallets in their pants more than the average Joe, lopping as much as 15% off their outgoings last year. The odd thing is, though, that to qualify for that exclusive club Chase reckons you should be earning $120K a year. We know times are hard, but that’s one hell of a downgrade to be considered über-rich.

Tags: banks, JPMorgan Chase, spending, Spending and Saving