{"id":838,"date":"2019-09-23T05:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moneyboss.com\/?p=838"},"modified":"2023-12-05T14:16:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T21:16:45","slug":"how-americans-spend-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/how-americans-spend-money\/","title":{"rendered":"How Americans spend money: A look at the latest Consumer Expenditure Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I discuss American spending habits, I try to cite specific numbers. Sometimes people write to ask where I get my info. Simple. Whenever I cite figures about American earning, saving, and spending, I get them from the U.S. government.<\/strong> In particular, I use the Consumer Expenditure Survey<\/a> (or CEX) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n

Here’s how the BLS website describes the Consumer Expenditure Survey:<\/p>\n

The Consumer Expenditure Survey program consists of two surveys, the Quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau. The CEX is important because it is the only Federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumers’ expenditures and incomes, as well as the characteristics of those consumers.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Consumer Expenditure Survey is the only reliable source I’ve found about actual<\/em> spending habits.<\/strong> Most similar projects have much smaller sample sizes and\/or provide theoretical numbers. The CEX is a great way to develop a descriptive budget (one that deals with real behavior) instead of a prescriptive budget (one that pushes an agenda).<\/p>\n

Naturally, the CEX has its drawbacks. As always, averages (and medians) only provide a limited view of a dataset. Plus, what might be true for an entire population (a country, in this case), probably isn’t true for a small subsection (your state or city, for instance). Still, for looking at the Big Picture, nothing I’ve found beats the Consumer Expenditure Survey.<\/p>\n

Because I’m a money nerd, I get very excited when the new Consumer Expenditure Survey numbers are released each year. And guess what! The 2018 data was released two weeks ago. I spent some time yesterday sitting in the hot tub and geeking out over U.S. spending stats on my iPad. Then I updated my personal CEX spreadsheet. (What? You don’t have one of your own?)<\/p>\n

Let’s take a closer look at the Consumer Expenditure Survey — and what we can learn from it. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Decades of Data<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you visit the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey page<\/a>, you’ll likely be overwhelmed by the amount of information available. When I first found the site, I had to sort through the various reports until I found the one most useful for my work: the “age of reference person”<\/a> table, which splits spending info based on the age of the person surveyed. (This is the base report I use when I collect stats.)<\/p>\n

I also like the “Library” section<\/a> at the Consumer Expenditure Survey website. It contains decades-worth of research papers and reports related to personal spending. Some of my favorites include:<\/p>\n