Today’s Spending
WHERE DOES ALL OUR money go and is our spending making us happy? Here’s how to find key statistics:
- How do American families spend their money? You can find out by looking at the Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Housing accounts for roughly a third of spending, including not just mortgage or rent, but also utilities, property taxes, furniture and appliances. Meanwhile, transportation eats up around one-sixth of spending. This number takes into account vehicle purchases, gas, repairs and auto insurance, among other items. Add it up, and half of our monthly spending is getting swallowed up by our cars and our homes.
- What’s the total annual cost to drive a new car? That figure, which includes finance charges, depreciation, maintenance, fuel costs, insurance, and taxes and registration, is tracked by AAA.
- How much do we spend on fun, broadly defined? Head to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), call up the Interactive Data Application for GDP and personal income, and check out table 2.4.5. There, you can find out how much U.S. households spend on eating out; on concerts, gym memberships, amusement parks, sports events, museums and movie theaters; on cable and satellite television; on tobacco; on gambling; on beer, wine and spirits; on alcohol when eating out; on hotels and motels; and on foreign travel. The aggregate numbers make most sense when you divide them by the number of U.S. households.
- Which states have the highest prices for goods and services, and which have the lowest? You can find out by reviewing the BEA’s annual ranking of so-called regional price parities.
- How happy are Americans? Check out the General Social Survey, which has been conducted every year or two since 1972. The survey asks folks whether they would describe themselves as very happy, pretty happy or not too happy.
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