Frugal Ideas Taking Hold with Families

A joint research from Starcom and Nickelodeon found out a few things. First the study:

"The research -- which is being shared with clients but not released widely -- was conducted over fourth-quarter 2008 and first-quarter 2009, and included nationally representative online surveys of 1,000 parents with kids aged 2 to 17 and 700 children aged 8 to 17. Qualitative parental responses were culled from blogs."

72 percent agreed with the statement, "It's no longer important to keep up with the Joneses."
48 percent said that "we have redefined what's truly meaningful in our lives."
Over 60 percent of those polled said they were buying more store brands than previously
73 percent said they had started using coupons more.
46 percent said they would take a "staycation" and spend time at home as opposed to traveling.

News like this always warms my heart that people are seeing the usefulness to living within their means and not worrying about what the neighbors think of the way they live. They are doing what is right for their finances and for their family and seeing the benefits from it.

I'm glad that people are not as brand loyal as they used to be. Personally I have seen a few changes in the grocery markets that are helping as well.
1. I see that store name items have as much shelf display as some of the brand name displays
2. I'm seeing more stores promote their store brands at the end of aisles and giving a larger display along the inner aisles. A 99¢ box of corn flakes can be just as good tasting as the brand name for 2.59
3. I notice that many of the store brands are going back to a two color design to make them stand out from the others, mostly blue and white or red,white and blue.

I work in a retail store office that counts the coupons coming in and I must say that I have noticed an increase in coupons as well. Usually weekdays are slower for coupons but now weekdays have about as many coupons that weekends had almost two years ago. Also people are using multiple coupons more - a BOGO coupon along with a second cents off coupon or are using store coupons along with manufacturer coupons. I have also seen an increase in multiple coupons for the same item - meaning people are either buying more papers on Sunday or getting multiples from online sites.

Finally, the newest word added to Merriam-Webster online, staycation, is one that many of us have done already when finances didn't allow, and we now have a feeling of belonging and, we don't have to worry about others thinking we are 'losers' because we aren't traveling as often as often as them. Which brings us back full circle to the 72% who said they weren't going to keep up with the Joneses any longer.

Frugal-living really is easy when you cut to the chase. It is just the attitude and willingness to change that takes time and a little push sometimes.