OnePoll conducted a study on behalf of Alliant Credit Union to investigate how Americans would be spending their money after the pandemic. The survey of 2000 U.S adults found that 6 in 10 wanted to spend a lot of money to make up for the time they missed over the pandemic.
About 70% of respondents wanted to spend more money in the next ten years. Another 84% were confident they could use their money more freely as they had saved more money during the pandemic.
Younger generations were more likely to spend freely
Researchers found that the younger generations were more likely to hold this opinion. For instance, about 59% of Gen Z adults planned to spend freely. This figure was significant compared to 45% of millennials, and 25% of Gen X. Boomers appeared to be willing to spend more but within a strict budget (36%).
The respondents seemed concerned about having an emergency fund as about 73% of them had approximately $3816 on average in their accounts. They also seemed to focus more on their budgets since the pandemic. Around 77% of millennials were stricter with their budgets.
Participants had different views on how they should spend their money. Approximately 31% were more focused on experiences. Others cared more about material expenses (1 in 4). Some believed in striking a balance between experiences and material items (35%).
The respondents seemed to know where they would spend their money. For example, some planted to spend more on groceries (37%), restaurants (37%), consumer electronics (38%), home goods (40%), and traveling (44%).
How Americans budgeted their money
Despite planning to spend more money, many respondents still wanted to be careful with their finances (4 in 5). About 73% followed a tight monthly budget to keep from overspending. Attitudes over budgeting differed with each generation.
Gen X adults were the most careful with their money (87%). Boomers appeared to be less strict with their spending (83%). Participants used about half of the money on their budgets on groceries (23%) and mortgages (26%). About 17% went to utilities and 18% to recurring expenses. Another 17% went to their hobbies and recreational activities.
