Study finds Americans are 'doom spending' to cope with the economy
NEW YORK - Shoppers looking for those deals and steals just in time for the holidays are a dime a dozen.
"I did get a few things for my sister, for my mom, and I still have to get a few more things for some more family members," one shopper told FOX 5.
"I have a 7-year-old daughter, so the entire list is hers, and she’s come up with the list, and she wrote a letter to Santa," said another shopper, and he must deliver within his means, of course.
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But a new study from Intuit Credit Karma found that while almost all Americans, at 96 percent, are concerned with the state of our economy,and about 27 percent of Americans are doom spending to cope with the crisis.
The issue has gotten increasingly worse within the last 6 months with nearly a third of Americans admitting that they’ve taken on more debt and spent more money within that period.
Shoppers ride escalators at the Macy's flagship store on Black Friday in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. An estimated 182 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the most since 2017, according to the Na
Gen Z and millennials are leading that trend and earning some sympathy from shoppers who have been there before.
"I understand that feeling, but you cannot go down that path. Things are going to come back its not doomsday," one shopper said.
Paul Oster, the president of a credit management firm, on the other hand, is worried.
"This is the first year where I'm actually panicking a little bit for the average consumer because we've never been down this road before," Oster said.
He’s concerned mostly with the consequences on the other side of the troubling trend.
About half of those in the study admitted they’re struggling to afford their basic needs and are living paycheck to paycheck.
Shoppers at the Macy's flagship store on Black Friday in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. An estimated 182 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the most since 2017, according to the National Retail Fe
"Whether it's a buy now, pay later program, a credit card. Don't do it because it's going to wind up putting you in a position where you might not be able to dig out of the hole," said Oster.
He’s encouraging those regardless of their confidence in the economy to resist the urge to splurge and embrace a better budget.
"There's only so much money coming in. There's so much money going out. You have to figure out how to balance that in a way that you're going to be able to start to pay down your debt," Oster told FOX 5.
To help, Oster suggested abandoning those costly monthly subscriptions to cut every extra expense possible and creating a short-term plan to eliminate debt.
Since that’s easier said than done, he recommended budgeting apps and websites that include mint.com, NerdWallet, and smartcredit.com.