The social stigma of going into foreclosure seems to have decreased in the last few years as almost three-quarters of U.S. …
national savings rate
66% of Americans Are Sick and Tired of Pinching Pennies
And here’s another hint as to why the national savings rate has decreased: According to a recent survey-two-thirds of Americans are suffering from “frugal fatigue.” In other words, they’re sick of maintaining careful budgets, abstaining from fun splurges, restricting spending, and all that business about responsibility and living below …
6 Explanations for Why Americans Can’t Save Money
What’s to blame for the falling national savings rate? Experts point to a range of reasons Americans just can’t (or won’t) save, including income inequality, the collapse of housing values, the disappearance of pensions, the rising costs of education and health care, and the iPad.
Why You Should Behave Less Like an American and More Like a German
Two Sides to the ‘New Normal’: Spending (and Earning) Less
Consumers didn’t come to their senses out of the blue, realizing all of a sudden that they’ve been wasting enormous sums of money on “mindless accumulation,” as a new book puts it. Instead, the Great Recession, with its destruction of investment portfolios, home values, and many people’s careers, has forced folks to come to an undeniable …
Plausible? The Government Wants You in Debt
Do government policies make it much easier to be a spender rather than a saver?
What’s the State of Our Union? Thrifty, for One Thing
A new infographic from the The Atlantic cites a mess of stats that indicate Americans can be described as twitchy, suspicious, admired, filthy, and thrifty, among other adjectives. Just how thrifty are we? In 2009, 42.8% of groceries were sold on promotion, and 2.4 billion coupons were redeemed, up 26% from the year before.
You Will Be Living in a Place that Resembles Europe. Or Perhaps China or Australia
Because of changes to health care, the credit card industry, personal savings habits, and other parts of the economy, observers say that in the near future the U.S. may not look like the U.S. as we now know it. Instead, it may look a lot like … somewhere else.
Great Expectations in 2010: More Personal Savings and Cheaper Food, Heat, Electronics, and Homes
As we leave 2009 behind, there are many signs that life will be way better in the year to come.
Who Are You Kidding? New Year’s Money Resolutions You Just Won’t Keep
It’s the time of year to make resolutions, or at least it’s the time for journalists to write stories about making resolutions. This year especially, these resolutions involve better money management. But come on: If you didn’t figure out how to take care of your money this year—a year when everybody was scrimping and saving—you may …
You Need to Save. But Collectively, We Need to Spend
Does anyone see a conflict here?
Is the New Frugality Here to Stay?
In 2009, cutting back was cool. Whether thriftiness proves to be short-lived fad or an enduring trend remains to be seen.
