Consumers continue to cut back on Discretionary Spending.

Thunderstorms remain on the radar for the U.S. economy and consumers continue to feel the pinch. According to the latest American Pulse Survey of 4,055 respondents, 61.7% are dining out less, 57.3% are driving less, 47.4% are attending fewer movies, 46.1% are forgoing department stores for discount retailers and 45.3% are cutting back on their vacation budget to cope with the current economic environment.

What is impacting consumer budgets the most (percent of those saying “very much”)?

– 67.9% say gas prices
– 47.2% say groceries
– 46.8% say home heating and cooling costs
– 36.1% say taxes

One way consumers appear to be coping with pressures on the family budget is by learning a new shopping skill – haggling for price. According to the survey, half of Americans (50.3%) report having negotiated for better prices on products other than a home or vehicle in light of the current economic situation. Americans say they haggle the most for better costs on tires/batteries/auto repair (38.6%), followed by appliances (37.3%) and electronics (37.2%).

On a lighter note, honesty still prevails even in uncertain times, as 58.3% of Americans say they would return $100,000 if they found it on the street. And Americans still can dream: men would play baseball in the Olympics and women would pick figure skating if they could compete in any sport, regardless of talent.

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