When it comes to finances, are you a spender or a saver? According to a new survey of 2-thousand U.S. adults, 56% consider themselves to be spenders, who splurge on things they really want, while 34% say they’re savers, who won’t buy what they want until it’s on sale or becomes a necessity.
The poll reveals some interesting differences between spenders and savers:
- Spenders spend almost twice as much in a given week on non-essentials than savers ($621 compared to $348)
- Spenders tend to be happier with their relationships than savers (78% versus 63%), happier with work life (78% versus 57%) as well as happier with their personal life (77% compared to 71%).
- Spenders are even happier with their financial life than savers (73% versus 56%).
- But savers seem to be smarter about managing their money, only using 29% of their total annual income for miscellaneous purchases, compared to spenders who use 38%.
- For holiday shopping, spenders are already planning to buy 13 items, but it’s just 9 for savers.
When it comes to big purchases – defined as anything that costs more than $1,762, on average – 59% of all respondents “often” and “always” think through the financial impact before buying.
- For many of those big purchases, people do nearly 12 hours of research first, and they’ll wait to buy for 17 days, on average, to see if it goes on sale.
- The items people think through and research the most are personal electronics (59%), vehicles (50%), vacations (40%), and fitness or recreation equipment (32%).
- Before they make a big purchase, people consider how long the item will last (61%), how often it will be used (57%), if they’re getting the best deal/price (55%) and how necessary it is right now (32%).
Source: SWNS Digital
