• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 14, 2009

According to the results of The Harris Poll online survey between September 8 and 15, 2009 by Harris Interactive, 67% of Americans say they will decrease spending on eating out at restaurants, and the same number will reduce spending on entertainment, almost the same as the response in May.  

50% of Americans say they will be saving or investing more money in the next six months, slightly down from 53% who said so in May of this year. In terms of general spending, just one-quarter of U.S. adults say they anticipate having more money to spend the way they want, again unchanged from the beginning of summer in May when 26% said so.

In May, as people were planning their summer vacations over one-third of Americans said they would be taking a vacation away from home lasting longer than a week in the next six month. The end of summer tends to mean less travel and now only 28% of Americans say it is likely they will take a week-long vacation in the next six months.

Almost unchanged from May, one in five Americans say they will be likely to buy a new computer in the next. Also unchanged is that 7% of Americans would be starting a new business in the next six months compared to 8% who said so in May.

Just 14% of Americans say they are likely to move to a different residence and less than one in ten say they will be likely to purchase a house or condo in the next six months. In May, one in five U.S. adults (19%) said they were likely to move in the next six months and 9% were likely to purchase a house or condo.

Looking at bigger ticket items, people are still not quite ready for these types of purchases. Just one in ten Americans say they are going to buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van in the next six months, almost the same as in May, when 12% said the same. When it comes to buying a boat or recreational vehicle in the next six months, just 4% say they will do so compared to 5% in May who said they would.

Likelihood Of Spending Or Saving Over Next Six Months (All American Adults; Percent of Respondents)
	Likely (Net)	Very likely	Somewhat Likely	Not Likely (Net)
Decrease spending on eating out at restaurants	67%	31%	36%	33%
Reduce spending on entertainment	67	30	37	33
Save or invest more money	50	17	33	50
Take a vacation away from home lasting longer than a week	28	11	17	72
Have more money to spend the way you want	25	5	20	75
Buy a new computer	19	5	14	81
Move to a different residence	14	5	9	86
Buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van	10	3	8	90
Purchase a house or condo	8	3	5	92
Start a new business	7	2	5	93
Buy a boat or recreational vehicle (e.g. trailer, motor home)	4	2	2	96
Source: The Harris Poll, September 23, 2009

  

Historical Trend Of Americans Saying Very Or Somewhat Likely Of Spending Or Saving Over Next Six Months (All American Adults)
	Percent of Respondents
	Nov. 2008	March 2009	May 2009	Sept. 2009
Decrease spending on eating out at restaurants	65%	74%	66%	67%
Reduce spending on entertainment	64	74	64	67
Save or invest more money	49	50	53	50
Take a vacation away from home lasting longer than a week	29	35	36	28
Have more money to spend the way you want 25	21	26	25
Buy a new computer	22	22	21	19
Move to a different residence 18	20	19	14
Buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van	12	11	12	10
Purchase a house or condo	10	10	9	8
Start a new business	9	10	8	7
Buy a boat or recreational vehicle (e.g. trailer, motor home)	5	5	5	4
Source: The Harris Poll, September 23, 2009

The study concludes that the economy is still a major issue of concern for people and, with the worries surrounding the job market, people are not ready to start spending yet.

  

For more information, and to access the PDF file, please visit HarrisInteractive here.