Summer Spending Trends
September 9, 2009
Do you tend to spend more money in the summer or less? We spend more time doing outside activities that cost nothing, like going to the park or going for a walk. But typically we do tend to do more travelling in the summer which can add up pretty quick.
Quicken Online looked at how people reported spending their money from June to August of this year. The spending analysis seemed to show that people around the US spent frugally this summer:
Less Travel: On average, consumers spent a modest $300 on vacation related expenses this summer
Less Eating Out: Consumers spent an average of $543 on meals at restaurants versus $887 on groceries
Still Using Credit: Americans charged an average of $2692 on their credit cards while only spending $1,447 in cash.
How about you, did you spend more or less this summer?
My wife and I are not winter sports people, so nearly all of our recreational money is spent in the summertime. Oddly enough, though our agenda may vary as far as what trips we take, we’ve kept our spending on vacations fairly consistent over the last few years. Next year, we’re hoping to go to Europe for the first time, so that may get a little more expensive. The recession really hasn’t affected us; we’re just maintaining and increasing our cash cushion in case of job loss.