How americans spend their money..

mickj · 02-13-2008, 03:22 PM

I especially liked the second graph...

looks like we are about to have an intersection of dishwashers and the internet

The New York Times > Opinion > Image >

deserat · 02-13-2008, 03:30 PM

Cool graphs - shows the technology expectation creep very well - also, look at the differences spent on the different categories - the relative amount is about the same except in housing, taxes and transportation - taxes are HUGE! Thanks for posting.

bots2019 · 02-13-2008, 03:32 PM

Wow - check out the growth in cell phone proliferation!

Looks like the graph of my desire to retire

**CuppaJoe** · 02-13-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickj

I especially liked the second graph...

looks like we are about to have an intersection of dishwashers and the internet

The New York Times > Opinion > Image >

OMG, that's accurate. It's exacting what I see "The Joneses" doing.

UncleHoney · 02-13-2008, 03:47 PM

More color tv's than stoves, but more refrigerators than color tv's. Got to keep the beer cold I guess.

Notmuchlonger · 02-13-2008, 04:08 PM

Makes me appreciate what the DW and I have.

UncleHoney · 02-13-2008, 04:09 PM

I wonder if you can glean any investment information from the bottom graph. Looks like some areas of growth are maxed out and the market is saturated and might only feed on replacements.

Another thing of interest is the durable goods (long lived) vs the disposable goods. More people spending on things that will only be usable for a few short years, computers, cellphones and vcr's.

dex · 02-13-2008, 04:24 PM

Isn't it saying, everyone has everything.

**Want2retire** · 02-14-2008, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickj

looks like we are about to have an intersection of dishwashers and the internet

Yes, but at only ~63%? I am shocked. Even my apartment (before I bought my house) had a tiny cheap dishwasher.

Walt34 · 02-14-2008, 10:07 AM

Neat graphs. Makes me feel wealthy since we have most of the "toys". The house I bought in '85 after the divorce didn't have a dishwasher in it - intending at the time to remain a hard-core bachelor, I don't think I even noticed. A few years after getting married 2nd time wife wanted a dishwasher (What for? She was doing a fine job!) but it would have required about a $6K min. kitchen overhaul so we never got around to it. But the new house has one.

FinanceDude · 02-14-2008, 10:07 AM

Looks like the "Highest 5th" spends a LOT more on housing, cars, taxes, and financial flows..........not too surprising, I think they are the "keeping up with the Joneses" folks........

FinanceDude · 02-14-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34

A few years after getting married 2nd time wife wanted a dishwasher (What for? She was doing a fine job!) but it would have required about a $6K min. kitchen overhaul so we never got around to it. But the new house has one.

You could have got a nice rolling dishwasher for much LESS than $6000...........

youbet · 02-14-2008, 10:10 AM

Great post!

Interesting to note:

Less automobile and clothes washer penetration immediately after WWII than before. Guess that metal was needed for tanks and bombs!

Surprising to note low penetration of some categories when I was born (geezer here - 1947): automobiles - 52%, clothes washers - 18%, telephones - 56%, electricity - 90%, etc. I guess those stories I tell my son about having to walk 47 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways, contain more truth than either of us thought!

FinanceDude · 02-14-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet

Great post!

Interesting to note:

Less automobile and clothes washer penetration immediately after WWII than before. Guess that metal was needed for tanks and bombs!

Surprising to note low penetration of some categories when I was born (geezer here - 1947): automobiles - 52%, clothes washers - 18%, telephones - 56%, electricity - 90%, etc. I guess those stories I tell my son about having to walk 47 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways, contain more truth than either of us thought!

Funny story about that, when my Dad used to tell us how we walked MILES to school in the snow, etc, uphill both ways, one day we visited his hometown. I saw a one-room schoolhouse, and asked him about it. "Yup", that's where I went to school", he said.

Later I noted based on the car odometer that the schoolhouse was THREE TENTHS of ONE MILE from the farm he grew up on, but at the risk of getting hit I deferred comment..........

SecondCor521 · 02-14-2008, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude

Funny story about that, when my Dad used to tell us how we walked MILES to school in the snow, etc, uphill both ways, one day we visited his hometown. I saw a one-room schoolhouse, and asked him about it. "Yup", that's where I went to school", he said.

Later I noted based on the car odometer that the schoolhouse was THREE TENTHS of ONE MILE from the farm he grew up on, but at the risk of getting hit I deferred comment..........

Maybe he was including the miles he had to walk to the barn to milk the cows before school...

2Cor521

FinanceDude · 02-14-2008, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521

Maybe he was including the miles he had to walk to the barn to milk the cows before school...

2Cor521

Could be, but the barn was about 200 feet from the farmhouse...........

haha · 02-14-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire

Yes, but at only ~63%? I am shocked. Even my apartment (before I bought my house) had a tiny cheap dishwasher.

I'm 66 and I have never had a dishwasher. Just as well, years ago a zen roshi taught me that satori is found by giving full concentraion and awareness to mundane tasks.

So not only have I saved money by not buying and maintaining dishwashers, I have moved myself along spiritually, maybe.

Ha

haha · 02-14-2008, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat

Cool graphs - shows the technology expectation creep very well - also, look at the differences spent on the different categories - the relative amount is about the same except in housing, taxes and transportation - taxes are HUGE! Thanks for posting.

President Barack will help us poor victims of affluenza by making that tax column even higher, so we won't have to bother any longer with those pesky financial flows, or live in those nice houses.

Ha

TromboneAl · 02-14-2008, 12:35 PM

I read that dishwasher is the top thing that people want in a new house.

We had a rolling dishwasher for a few years, and it worked quite well -- like having a movable butcher block island.

myself · 02-14-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude

Funny story about that, when my Dad used to tell us how we walked MILES to school in the snow, etc, uphill both ways, one day we visited his hometown. I saw a one-room schoolhouse, and asked him about it. "Yup", that's where I went to school", he said.

Later I noted based on the car odometer that the schoolhouse was THREE TENTHS of ONE MILE from the farm he grew up on, but at the risk of getting hit I deferred comment..........

I measured the distances I had to walk about 3 times out of any month. One school was 4.7 miles (one way), and to catch the bus for another school was 8.3 miles (one way). I was born in 1964. So, I actually have the right to say I walked uphill both ways and sometimes in the snow (although the rain was much more of a pain in the *ss.

02-13-2008, 03:22 PM	#1
mickj Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 149	How americans spend their money.. I especially liked the second graph... looks like we are about to have an intersection of dishwashers and the internet The New York Times > Opinion > Image > __________________ If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. Ludwig Wittgenstein

02-13-2008, 03:30 PM	#2
deserat Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 428	Cool graphs - shows the technology expectation creep very well - also, look at the differences spent on the different categories - the relative amount is about the same except in housing, taxes and transportation - taxes are HUGE! Thanks for posting. __________________ Deserat aka Bridget

02-13-2008, 04:08 PM	#6
Notmuchlonger Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,986	Makes me appreciate what the DW and I have. __________________ Call the troops out in a hurry. This is what we've waited for. This is it boys, this is war.

02-13-2008, 04:24 PM	#8
dex Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 3,046	Isn't it saying, everyone has everything. __________________ Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral

02-14-2008, 10:07 AM	#10
Walt34 Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: WV Panhandle Posts: 1,222	Neat graphs. Makes me feel wealthy since we have most of the "toys". The house I bought in '85 after the divorce didn't have a dishwasher in it - intending at the time to remain a hard-core bachelor, I don't think I even noticed. A few years after getting married 2nd time wife wanted a dishwasher (What for? She was doing a fine job!) but it would have required about a $6K min. kitchen overhaul so we never got around to it. But the new house has one. __________________ Retired six years ago at age 52

02-13-2008, 03:32 PM	#3
bots2019 Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 119	Wow - check out the growth in cell phone proliferation! Looks like the graph of my desire to retire

02-13-2008, 03:47 PM	#5
UncleHoney Full time employment: Posting here. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Columbus Posts: 690	More color tv's than stoves, but more refrigerators than color tv's. Got to keep the beer cold I guess.

02-13-2008, 04:09 PM	#7
UncleHoney Full time employment: Posting here. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Columbus Posts: 690	I wonder if you can glean any investment information from the bottom graph. Looks like some areas of growth are maxed out and the market is saturated and might only feed on replacements. Another thing of interest is the durable goods (long lived) vs the disposable goods. More people spending on things that will only be usable for a few short years, computers, cellphones and vcr's.

02-14-2008, 10:07 AM	#11
FinanceDude Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 7,411	Looks like the "Highest 5th" spends a LOT more on housing, cars, taxes, and financial flows..........not too surprising, I think they are the "keeping up with the Joneses" folks........ __________________ Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:) President Obama, please know that I will continue to cling to my guns and religion........:)

02-14-2008, 10:10 AM	#13
youbet Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4,385	Great post! Interesting to note: Less automobile and clothes washer penetration immediately after WWII than before. Guess that metal was needed for tanks and bombs! Surprising to note low penetration of some categories when I was born (geezer here - 1947): automobiles - 52%, clothes washers - 18%, telephones - 56%, electricity - 90%, etc. I guess those stories I tell my son about having to walk 47 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways, contain more truth than either of us thought! __________________ Over all was the silence of the wilderness - Sigurd Olsen

02-14-2008, 12:35 PM	#19
TromboneAl Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 4,162	I read that dishwasher is the top thing that people want in a new house. We had a rolling dishwasher for a few years, and it worked quite well -- like having a movable butcher block island.