Aussies return to ‘buy what you can afford’ attitude

Aussies are taking the healthy, wealthy and wise message to heart. We’re drinking and smoking less, trimming fat from our budgets and snubbing credit cards.

Frugal is fashionable.

But our houses are our castles, and we are willing to splurge when it comes to home entertainment and decorating.

“The conventional wisdom is that Australians spend like there’s no tomorrow, are reluctant to save, put purchases on the credit card and love a beer, smoke and flutter,” CommSec chief economist Craig James said.

“But the stereotype is outdated. Today’s consumer is more likely to spend cautiously; put purchases on Eftpos than the credit card; more inclined to put money in the bank; less likely to smoke; and more likely to aim for quality rather than quantity when drinking alcohol.”

A CommSec report, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, says the new Australian consumer is more likely to stay indoors to watch TV and use computers than go to restaurants and the cinema.

The summary of the nation’s buying habits reveals we spend double on TVs, cameras, sport equipment and toys compared with electricity and gas. The share of our budgets devoted to recreation has tripled since the 1980s.

Fifty years ago 41 per cent of our spending went on food, clothes, booze and cigarettes. Today it is 18 per cent.

“In short, we are richer, have more choice, and the relative cost of (many) goods has fallen over time,” Mr James said.

Beer consumption has dropped to 62-year lows, but quaffing wine is at record levels.

And as a “buy what you can afford” attitude returns, the budget-conscious are capitalising on a high Aussie dollar and downing foreign whites and reds.

Wine imports account for 15 per cent of all sales – up from just over 3 per cent a decade ago.

“Aussies are no longer going out with the aim to drink, rather indulging in a drink is seen as an accompaniment to other activities,” Mr James said.

For more on Australians returning to a ‘buy what you can afford’ attitude and living in budget go to the Herald Sun.

Article: http://www.news.com.au/money/were-boozing-less-and-saving-more/story-e6frfmci-1226072706782#ixzz1PIQvdlET