Long-Lasting Effects

Not long ago, we were, as usual, bemoaning the fact that we were all feeling a financial pinch like we’ve never felt before. We all agreed that, when this Recession is over and we’re making some money again, we are going to save every dime that isn’t nailed down for life’s necessities. Everything else is going to go into a savings plan so that, if the economy ever dives again in our lifetimes, we would be more prepared than we were this time.

Most Americans think the lessons learned from this Recession will be long-lasting: According to a recent Time survey, 61 percent of the people surveyed indicated that, when the hardship is over and good financial times return, they’ll continue to spend less than they did before the Recession.

One fascinating finding is that the intention to live more frugally can be divided along age lines. According to a New York Times survey, the majority of younger Americans surveyed said spending less will be a permanent result of the Recession. Older people surveyed tend to believe we’ll return to our pre-Recession ways of spending once the financial crisis has passed. Although older people tend to be more conservative, the New York Times survey suggests that older Americans more than likely feel this way because they have seen the Great Depression and a few recessions come and go, and they believe that good times eventually follow bad. Perhaps this Recession has spawned a generation that will be more similar in their spending habits to their Depression-era grandparents than their 1950s parents.

The resolve to handle finances differently and live more frugally resonates throughout the results of the Time survey: Although nearly half of those surveyed saw their economic status decline in the past year—and although 57 percent believe the American Dream is “harder to achieve”—56 percent believe “America’s best days are ahead.” In the meantime, more people are growing and canning vegetables, making chicken soup instead of buying cold medicine, taking vitamins, buying less bottled water, visiting the public library, and putting time and effort into looking for discounts (23 percent say they are starting to haggle over prices).

Though we tend to believe that hard financial times contribute to domestic problems, the Time survey results show just the opposite: A third of those surveyed said they have been spending more time with family and friends, and four times more people said their relationships with their children have improved than say they’ve gotten worse.

“A consumer culture invites us to want more than we can ever have; a culture of thrift invites us to be grateful for whatever we can get,” the Time article goes on. “So we pass the time by tending our gardens and patching our safety nets and debating whether, years from now, this season will be remembered for what we lost, or all that we found.”—Carol Wiley Lorente