It’s no secret that Americans have cut back on spending over the past few years, as the recession and high unemployment have either eaten up our extra cash or caused us to rethink our free-spending ways.
Even now that the economy is in a slow recovery, a new poll from Harris Interactive shows that many Americans are continuing to pinch pennies in much the same way they did in June of 2009, the month the recession officially ended.
The poll of about 3,000 people, taken in October, asked Americans what money-saving techniques they’d used in the past six months. According to the poll:
- 62 percent of Americans are purchasing more generic brands, the same as in June of 2009
- 45 percent are bringing lunch instead of purchasing it, slightly less than in June of 2009
- 37 percent have switched to a refillable bottle instead of buying water, up from 33 percent in June of 2009.
- 22 percent have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning, up from 15 percent in June of 2009.
- 17 percent have canceled land-line phone service, up from 11 percent in June of 2009.
Readers, have you cut back on anything in the past six months?