What We Spent Money On in 2022
If the economic pessimists in the spring and summer had been right, America currently would be frozen in the clutches of a deep and punishing recession heading into 2023. But the December Labor Department report showed continued economic strength as wages and payrolls crushed expectations yet again. More people are working, they’re earning more money and unemployment remains near record lows.
Take a Look Back: 2022 Year in Review
Explore: GOBankingRates’ Best Credit Cards for 2023
This news came on the heels of record Thanksgiving and online Black Friday spending just a few days earlier.
Despite a year defined by the highest inflation in decades, looking back, it appears now that Americans sensed all along that a recession wasn’t unavoidable and they could just go right on spending.
Here’s what we spent money on in 2022.
Americans Shopped Smarter for Needs at the Expense of Wants
Inflation peaked above 9% in June, the same month that gas prices topped out over $5. Even so, the July retail sales report showed that Americans ignored the doomsday recession headlines and kept on buying. They just changed what they bought.
Take Our Poll: How Long Do You Think It Will Take You To Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt?
According to CNN, spending remained consistent, but people directed their dollars down to concentrate on necessities. For example, they bought fewer steaks and more affordable tuna, hot dogs and chicken.
Consumers proved savvy planners and managers of their own money. Despite the fact that they still had $2.2 trillion worth of stimulus funds in their collective bank accounts, they put off the purchases of couches, dishwashers and even pajama sets — which they had been gobbling up in quantity in the pandemic’s early days — all without any significant change in month-to-month retail spending at the height of the inflation crisis.
The Country Spent More on Impulse Purchases
Although families shifted to a needs-based spending mindset when prices rose the fastest, prudence didn’t always rule the day. In the spring, an annual survey from the shopping platform Slickdeals showed that 64% of adults had spent more on impulse purchases than in the year prior.
The average person spent $314 per month on unplanned purchases this year, up from $276 in 2021. Interestingly, when the study was conducted in April, the average respondent was willing to spend up to $310 on a single unplanned purchase — up from $277 the year before.
But look at the context.
The year-over-year inflation rate in April was 8.3% — and 8.3% of $310 is roughly $26. That makes last year’s $277 purchase closer to $303 today — just $7 away from 2022’s $310 threshold.