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Gallup Reveals What Americans Are Doing With Their "Gas Savings"
Perhaps the longest-running pipe dream among confused economists and other talking heads over the past year has been that thanks to plunging oil and gas prices, American consumers' capacity for discretionary spending will surge as a result of these so-called "gas savings".
What all these incorrect forecasts ignored was two main things: i) reality, as all such forecasts completely ignore the far greater and disproportional spikes in healthcare and education costs, and of course, rents, which more than offset the discretionary dry powder available to most Americans; ii) empirical evidence on what Americans had actually spent their "gas savings" on.
While we had shown countless examples of the first point, over the weekend Gallup conveniently provided much needed facts on the second.
Gallup's finding: Americans' reported changes in spending have remained stable in most categories of goods and services over the past year - except for gasoline, with 35% reporting they spent more on gasoline in the August-September period.
More from Gallup:
At the end of this summer, 35% of Americans said they were spending more on gasoline, which is up from 21% earlier this spring but still nowhere near the levels measured last summer (58%). Americans in the third quarter were nearly as likely to be spending less (31%) as they were to be spending more (35%) on gas and fuel. Just 12% said they were spending less one year ago. The net change in spending (percentage spending more minus percentage spending less) has swung wildly from +46 last year, to -34 this spring, to +4 today.
Gallup's punchline which will male all macrotourist economist shiver in their underwear as they debate the recovery from their parents' basements:
These trends continue to illustrate that Americans are still primarily spending more on things they need -- but not on things they want. They still say they are spending less, rather than more, than they did in the past year on discretionary purchases such as retirement investments, leisure activities, clothing, consumer electronics, dining out and travel.
There is a silver lining: "Net spending on travel and dining out has become significantly less negative." So not all hope is lost.
Finally, the implication:
After more than a year of following Americans' self-reported spending patterns, several conclusions seem worth reinforcing. First, net changes in spending -- the percentage of Americans reporting that they are spending more within a category minus the percentage saying they are spending less -- have been fairly stable for all categories, except gas or fuel. It's possible that people's reports of spending may be less sensitive to modest cost increases or spending fluctuations than to more dramatic shifts, such as the variations in gas prices over the past year. People may simply be inclined to overlook smaller spending changes in what they report. Conversely, people may interpret stable prices following a big slide as a sort of increase, and adjust their reports to reflect this.
Or, as Gallup also observes, courtesy of perennially rising prices for staples, what little discretionary spending power US consumers have left is spent on, simply enough, more gas.
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Interesting economics at work.
Your cost of raw material drops to less than half.
You cost of shipping drops by a third.
Cost of Goods sold stays the same or actually rises.
???
Lemme tell y'all why this is not good news.
Because all them savings are being spent on big time luxury items.
People are so Damned Broke that dining out is taking the place of vacations.
Y'all gettin' this, yet?
HELLO!?!?!?
The fucker went down for 2 weeks a couple months ago and it's right back up. What gives?
Obama will not finish his second term! Current Events Linked to Ancient Biblical Prophecy!
http://motivationdose.com/is-america-babylon/
Why do you post this silly shit after every article? Have you confused Zero Hedge with this one?
http://raptureready.com/
Nenad may be a scripture-addled sycophant of the Jim Jones school of bartending.
Hey Nenad! When y'all get Rapturated, can I have the keys and titles to your cars? Where shall I forward your credit card bills?
www.landoverbaptist.org
"America's Favorite Church"
hey fuckface go lght the oven and insert penis stat.
My Mother has saved enough on gasoline that she can now afford to eat Cat Food instead of eating lower cost Dog Food. She said something about coming over for dinner on Friday, that she had a "Fancy Feast" prepared for dinner. I declined.
But the meal would help to make your fur more shiny and full...
Alpo was on sale last week. 69 cents a can. I stocked up for the apocalypse.
I go for the Dinky Dee
If you call dining out moving up from the condement counter of 7-11 to Chilpolte. Or how about a couple of extravegant REDbox movies.
Yea the extra 10-20 bucks a week for my sons family - man their livin large. I told him he should have been a plumber.
Yes, EVERYBODY gets it, you are on a website that has been saying this for years. No, you do not have some magical insight that absolutely no one else has.
It's the new math.
Property taxes in NJ will bury the homeowner .....
If I was forced to live in NJ I would want to be buried.
But the bald talking head on CNBC said I was getting a tax cut!?
Somehow that brough back memories of Bush the Junger's 300$ to every murican tax payer....
I think I distinctly remember burning mine...
Sorry, Dazman, every Demobrat candidate has primised yuuuuuuuge tax increases on the middle class and massive increase in gubmint spending. I was surprised Hitlery admitted it as part of her platform but she was aiming to capture the FSA and parasitic votes by promising them moar free shit, pensions and so on.
I am not too sure where Bush, Carly "The Bloodthirsty" Fiorino and Rubio stand since all they talk about is moar war.
Trump is the only one who has actually mentioned the plight of America's middle class and the destruction Barry has done to it.
It's about the climate, stupid! Lord save us from his good intentions. Provided any are good, so throw in the bad ones too!
They made everyone get more gas efficient cars. Less gas is sold. Companies need to keep the prices up to get the margins.
Wait! I thought oil was low due to decreased demand? So the price goes down and people spend more, that would increase demand, no?
Using logic is rayciss.
And you think anything is governed by supply and demand anymore? Silly boy.
Say what?
Gas savings go to pay down mortgages. Or can Fed economists tell me what other way you can immediately turn each $100 gas savings into a $300 payment reduction in this age.
I didn't think so...
Been wondering how long it will take them to catch on, quick delete the article before they find out and gas prices go back up.
I'm saving a whopping $25 a month on gas. Deciding on which priate Greek island to buy with my savings has been a challeng to say the least.
Gawd, the irony....so thick you can cut it with a knife...
put that money away and in a month you can buy some apple stock.
American dream, road to riches! you'll be a millionaire!
You mean apple "sauce".
Knowing americans, they all traded in a four cylinder for a six or eight. The gas prices will be a wash. But that's how most people think about expenses, a reduction in one and you just adjust that one item up. In other words, you keep the same percentage and get a better one. I bet if cable TV was reduced by $15 per month, everyone would get HBO.
This is the same Gallup that is no longer covering the presidential race.
Whether this makes their polling more or less accurate is for you to decide. I'm very curious to know if they were asked to step aside due to accuracy in order to avoid the same fate as a particular bond-rating firm.
i hear the ceo of that company has publicly said some double-plus un-good things.
Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, recently told CNBC that he was worried he might “suddenly disappear” if he disputed the accuracy of what the U.S. government is reporting as unemployed Americans, Wall Street on Parade reported.
“I think that the number that comes out of BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] and the Department of Labor is very, very accurate. I need to make that very, very clear so that I don’t suddenly disappear. I need to make it home tonight.”
But he contended that the percent of full time jobs in this country as a percent of the adult population “is the worst it’s been in 30 years.”
His appearance on CNBC came days after he claimed the official unemployment rate being trumpeted by the White House, Wall Street and the media is a "big lie."
they are spending more money on gas to go where? hey honey, we have an extra ten dollars in our gas budget. let's drive somewhere.
In many states, "Driving somewhere" is not an option, it is required and often entails healthy distances.
Geez, people are self absorbed!
Home in one state, work in another... I'm not complaining, I get to travel home once a month rather than on just the long weekends.
Standard Disclaimer: SPLURGE!
"Americans are still primarily spending more on things they need -- but not on things they want"
Not in my family,,, My son, a truck driver home for 10-15 days a year just purchased a brand new Harley for $23,000 at 7.5%. (7 Years).
Could have rented the same bike while home to ride around for far less.
The upside? Hoping he'll ask me to exercise it for him :))
My credit card offers me rate of 6.5% and I thought that was rip off already! In local bank I can get 3.2% interest rates... Your son is getting rip off.
You both are getting ripped off.
How can I get rip off if I didn't spend any money? Lol, I got those info due to inquiry for another investment real estate.
Some items, like a Road King, are non negotiable. Your son intuitively knows this.
I have been cash negative(pulling money from savings to make ends meet) for quite a while, the lower gas prices plus moving closer to work has just stopped the bleeding.
I have been cash negative ever since that fucking cunt Bernanke started his thievery. Fuck You Ben. I have dumped cable TV, never eat out, eliminated my land line phone, got rid of smartphone and leave lights off in my house at all times except for a small reading light. I shop for any clothing needed at goodwill. Fuck You Ben
why dont you guys get a sallie mae loan and go to or back to college and further your education.
Then graduate and get a great, high-paying job with benefits.
ohhh just kidding, what year is it again?
If you just BTFD for the past 8 years you would have made a lot of money.
The Neilson people have a nice poll. And they pay you to take it. Every time I get the Neilson poll-taking envelope, I take their money and put it in my wallet. And then I tell the Neilson people that again, I have no TV. I haven't had a TV since digital TV got their claws into the industry.
How much is your cable bill? What's in your wallet?
At these prices I buy high test. It gives me much better gas milage. And high test makes my old Volvo run like an old Volvo.
Assuming I would accept the bombardment of brain-rot programming of 5trillion channels of cable/dish for free, I would only turn the tv on (on mute, with a cardboard covering the screen) if and only if i get paid $10 per brain-rotting advertisemet that streams through.
As a CPA I can tell you, people have no idea how they spend their money
As an engineer I can tell you that a lot of tax preppers have shitty credit score.
good point! For like 2 years now I keep telling myself "OK, I am going to audit all of my expenses to see where it is all going". Still waiting. Hopefully in the next couple weeks. I am at least *aware* at the POS of what I am spending on. I have limits as to how much I put out for any sort of purchase, and daily limits. I am pretty good at controlling spending and limiting expenditures. My basic rule is "don't buy anything" lol. I pretty much like to move as much as i can into my trading acct and use the money to make more. my wife, we have separate accounts, bank, CC, savings, everything, when she gets money (she has a pretty good job and makes good coin) she starts to get the shakes. "must ... spend ... money". I know a lot more about her spending because I take care of her books and am constantly trying to get her to stop spending. she's no good with #s and doesnt really understand what I am doing each month. I play a little trick on her that enables me to move a lot of her earnings into savings. she is doing a lot better.
There is a silver lining: "Net spending on travel and dining out has become significantly less negative." So not all hope is lost.
Damn...does this mean all the recent bartenders and waitress hires are going to lose their jobs? If so, guess unemployment goes up and the Fed will have to go from ZIRP to NIRP...guess the FED can blame their policy change on low gas prices... damn Saudia Arabia...look what you have done to my country...
I thought layoffs reduce the unemployment numbers? Im sure I read that somewhere.
i spend most of my money on blow and ho's. the rest i just waste
with the ho price savings, you can spend on more ho's
I thought all the gas price savings went to pre-purchasing Helicopter fuel?
Those things don't fly on solar you know!
My gas savings was eaten up by my monthly water bill drought surcharge (CA).
My "gas savings" was eaten up by my 23% increase in out-of-pocket health premiums, plus the additional $43/week (max per federal law) I have to sock into an HSA, due to the $11,000 deductible I have on the family plan.
Thanks, Obongo! Thanks, health ins co's!
What happens when NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ANYMORE? I know quite a few people on the edge.... I save 60 a month on gas, that savings goes to the dmn grocery bill which has doubled in 16 monthsl. The end is nigh
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The pricks up in Canada, have somehow figured out to keep the gas prices at ? $1.00/L Cdn. when oil is ?$47 bucks a barrel.
When it was $110/barrel last summer, the price was $1.10/L.
Bring on the electrics.
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