Believe things, rather than man."
-Benjamin Whichcote


Spending Habits
What Americans Are Willing To Give Up
Lauren Sherman, 04.16.09, 04:00 PM EDT
Ten things consumers are sacrificing in the recession.



Newlywed Samantha Slaven-Bick, 38, a Los Angeles publicist, and her husband Stewart Bick, 46, decided to forgo their honeymoon. Marketing executive Saretta Holler, 33, and her fiancé Judson Brown, 32, fired their cleaning lady. Allen Chen, 30, a communications assistant at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y., gave up his season tickets to the Mets.

No matter your age, gender or financial status, nearly everyone is giving something up in an effort to cope with the deepening recession.

In Depth: What Americans Are Willing To Give Up

Consumers haven't stopped spending altogether, but they've certainly cut back. U.S. retail sales for March 2009 were $344.4 billion, a 1.1% decrease from February 2009, and a 9.4% decrease from March 2008, according to the Commerce Department.

A recently released survey by New York marketing firm GfK Custom Research asked 2,000 American adults, representative of the total U.S. population, what they were willing to give up during the recession. (The survey was conducted during October, November and December 2008.)

While some purchases--including mortgage payments, children's clothing and educational expenses--were considered necessities by Americans, other everyday costs were not.

For instance, an overwhelming 82% said that dining out would be easy to abandon. While the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., forecasts that Americans will spend $566 billion eating out in 2009, a 2.5% increase over 2008, discounted menus at mid- to high-end restaurants suggest otherwise.

Mid-market national chain P.F. Chang's recently started promoting a discounted prix fixe dinner menu that costs just $25 per person. And Manhattan restaurant Alto has dropped its corkage fees so guests can save money by drinking their own bottles of wine.

Even fast food joints seem to be struggling. Burger King's ( BKC - news - people ) sales for its most recent quarter, which ended March 31, were $600 million, up just 1% from $594 million last year. Analysts estimate that competitor McDonald's ( MCD - news - people ) will report a 6.8% decrease in sales, to $5.24 billion, for its current quarter.

Americans are also cutting back on entertainment outside of the home. By this time last year, Major League Baseball had sold 1 million more tickets. During the first week of April 2009, Broadway ticket sales declined $1 million, to $16.9 million, compared with the same period last year.

Unsurprisingly, a personal clothing budget is seen as a want, not a need. In March, even cheap and trendy fashion retailer H&M, thought to be safer from the downturn than struggling companies like Saks ( SKS - news - people ) and Gap ( GPS - news - people ), saw a 3% decrease in same-store sales. (The company doesn't release actual dollar figures on a monthly basis.) On April 13, Talbots ( TLB - news - people )--the classic clothing brand--reported that year-over-year sales in its fourth quarter dropped by 16% to $327.9 million.

Despite the trend toward locally produced and organic foods, Americans are cutting back on pricey groceries. The Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass., says that while it expects growth in the sector for 2009, organic food sales will likely slow to single digit growth. By contrast, for the last decade, organic sales have grown between 17% and 21% each year.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/16/consumer-sacrifice-recession-lifestyle-style-consumer-sacrifice.html

05l: Steve Martin / Prince

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

Wife.....Amy Poehler
Husband.....Steve Martin
.....Chris Parnell

[ open on couple trying to balance their checkbook ]

Wife: (sighs) I just can't get these numbers to add up.

Husband: Like we're never going to get out of this hole.

Wife: Credit card debt, does it ever end?

CP: [walks in] Maybe I can help.

Husband: We sure could use it.

Wife: We've tried debt consolidation companies.

Husband: We've even taken out loans to help make payments.

CP: Well, you're not the only ones. Did you know that millions of Americans live with debt they cannot control? That's why I developed this unique new program for managing your debt. It's called [presents book] "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford."

Wife: Let me see that... [grabs book, reads] "If you don't have any money, you should not buy anything." Hmm, sounds interesting

Husband: Sounds confusing.

Wife: I don't know honey, this makes a lot of sense. There's a whole section here on how to buy expensive things using money you save.

Husband: Give me that... [grabs book, looks at it] And where would you get this saved money?

CP: I tell you where and how in Chapter 3.

Wife: Ok, so what if I want something but I don't have any money CP: You don't buy it.

Husband: Well let's say I don't have enough money to buy something. Should I buy it anyways?

CP: No-o-o-o.

Husband: Now I'm really confused!

CP: It's a little confusing at first.

Wife: Well what if you have the money, can you buy something?

CP: Yes.

Wife: Now take the money away. Same story?

CP: Nope. You shouldn't buy stuff when you don't have the money.

Husband: I think I got it. I buy something I want, and then hope that I can pay for it right?

CP: No. You make sure you have money, then you buy it.

Husband: Oh, THEN you buy it. But shouldn't you buy it before you have the money?

CP: No-o-o-o.

Wife: Why not?

CP: It's in the book. It's only one page long. The advice is priceless and the book is free.

Wife: Well, I like the sound of that.

Husband: Yeah, we can put it on our credit card.

CP: [shakes head]

Announcer: So get out of debt now, write for your free copy of "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford." If you buy now you'll also receive, "Seriously, If You Don't Have the Money, Don't Buy It!" Along with a 12-month subscription to "Stop Buying Stuff Magazine." So order today!

I cut back heavily on driving to cut the cost of gas and basic maintainence of my vehicles.. Quit my job to get a closer one that I was lucky enough to get.. I don't go to movies, I'll rent or find them on the internet instead.. I reuse a lot of materials that people would usually throw out.. I've been cutting back a lot. I found hobbies that are cheaper than my ones before and beneficial to help even out cash flow. For example, I fish a lot more often and actually keep them to eat now rather than catch and releace.. I've stepped up my music so I can play out to make money and sell CDs now. Honestly, I'd have to say that life is more simple to me now that I'm not out 24/7 and I have actually found myself ahead of the game as far as my financial status goes.

Believe things, rather than man."
-Benjamin Whichcote


Spending Habits
What Americans Are Willing To Give Up
Lauren Sherman, 04.16.09, 04:00 PM EDT
Ten things consumers are sacrificing in the recession.



Newlywed Samantha Slaven-Bick, 38, a Los Angeles publicist, and her husband Stewart Bick, 46, decided to forgo their honeymoon. Marketing executive Saretta Holler, 33, and her fiancé Judson Brown, 32, fired their cleaning lady. Allen Chen, 30, a communications assistant at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y., gave up his season tickets to the Mets.

No matter your age, gender or financial status, nearly everyone is giving something up in an effort to cope with the deepening recession.

In Depth: What Americans Are Willing To Give Up

Consumers haven't stopped spending altogether, but they've certainly cut back. U.S. retail sales for March 2009 were $344.4 billion, a 1.1% decrease from February 2009, and a 9.4% decrease from March 2008, according to the Commerce Department.

A recently released survey by New York marketing firm GfK Custom Research asked 2,000 American adults, representative of the total U.S. population, what they were willing to give up during the recession. (The survey was conducted during October, November and December 2008.)

While some purchases--including mortgage payments, children's clothing and educational expenses--were considered necessities by Americans, other everyday costs were not.

For instance, an overwhelming 82% said that dining out would be easy to abandon. While the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., forecasts that Americans will spend $566 billion eating out in 2009, a 2.5% increase over 2008, discounted menus at mid- to high-end restaurants suggest otherwise.

Mid-market national chain P.F. Chang's recently started promoting a discounted prix fixe dinner menu that costs just $25 per person. And Manhattan restaurant Alto has dropped its corkage fees so guests can save money by drinking their own bottles of wine.

Even fast food joints seem to be struggling. Burger King's ( BKC - news - people ) sales for its most recent quarter, which ended March 31, were $600 million, up just 1% from $594 million last year. Analysts estimate that competitor McDonald's ( MCD - news - people ) will report a 6.8% decrease in sales, to $5.24 billion, for its current quarter.

Americans are also cutting back on entertainment outside of the home. By this time last year, Major League Baseball had sold 1 million more tickets. During the first week of April 2009, Broadway ticket sales declined $1 million, to $16.9 million, compared with the same period last year.

Unsurprisingly, a personal clothing budget is seen as a want, not a need. In March, even cheap and trendy fashion retailer H&M, thought to be safer from the downturn than struggling companies like Saks ( SKS - news - people ) and Gap ( GPS - news - people ), saw a 3% decrease in same-store sales. (The company doesn't release actual dollar figures on a monthly basis.) On April 13, Talbots ( TLB - news - people )--the classic clothing brand--reported that year-over-year sales in its fourth quarter dropped by 16% to $327.9 million.

Despite the trend toward locally produced and organic foods, Americans are cutting back on pricey groceries. The Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass., says that while it expects growth in the sector for 2009, organic food sales will likely slow to single digit growth. By contrast, for the last decade, organic sales have grown between 17% and 21% each year.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/16/consumer-sacrifice-recession-lifestyle-style-consumer-sacrifice.html