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Spending Patterns

Reading the stories of how six families spend their money was educational. Each situation is different  and the spends reflect the diversity of lives. The ratio of spend on categories was so varied. Some families spend as much on food as they do on rent. Some have discretional expenses that well exceed the essentials. Banks are starting to provide insights on how we spend our money and what our expense profile could look like in the future. 

I look at mine sometimes to see if I have a directionally accurate sense of what I spend on and if there are missed opportunities to save. There are subscriptions I could cancel if I wanted to but these relatively small indulgences are hard to give up. I use all of them pretty regularly too so not sure the annual wasted dollar amount applies to me. 

Among those who pay for streaming services but don’t use them, respondents had an average of 1.65 entertainment subscriptions. Based on the costs of those services, these people waste an average of $347.81 per year on entertainment subscriptions they aren’t using.

Respondents ages 25-34 were the most likely to be wasting money on entertainment subscription services, with more than 7% of people in this age group saying they never use their subscriptions. On the other hand, adults 65 and older were the least likely to be throwing away money, with only 2% of people in this age group saying the same thing. 

That data makes sense. Younger people likely have busier lives and more demands on their time that they cannot control. It would be quite the luxury for the parents of young children to unwind at the end of their day watching a movie - they would be lucky if they could pull that once a week. At 65 and older, time is a lot easier to come by and more importantly a person has more control over how they choose to spend it.

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