How Your Socio-Economic Standing Impacts Your Reaction To The Credit Crunch
New research has shown that in an attempt to adjust their budgets and cut costs in the current economic environment, many people actually make choices which they think are saving them money, but in fact cost much more.
Unfortunately, many people use a poor financial situation as an excuse to make unhealthy decisions; cancelling gym memberships, eating fast-food meals that are advertised as “deals” and spending more time in front of the TV.
Dr Cate Burns from Deakin University, has studied the relationship between socio-economic standing and diet. Her research is incredibly interesting.
My research would suggest that how you react to the credit crunch depends on where you sit in the income range, she says.
Those at the top dine out less and drink cheaper wines, those in the middle change from branded to generic products and choose different cuts of meat or quality of fruits and vegetables.
Those at the bottom choose foods that will ‘fill up’ their families for the least cost.
The lowest-income consumers may know that is not healthy, but filling up is the most important consideration.
Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword. Not only is an apparently ‘cheap’ fast food meal often more expensive than a home-cooked alternative, it also has a significantly reduced nutritional value with “empty calories”, meaning consumers will be hungry again in a shorter period of time. Moreover, with a diet suffering reduced nutritional value, medical issues associated with malnutrition are rampant… and the management of these problems often doesn’t come cheap.
How can we use these learnings to help our future decisions? A few tips:
- Plan your meals in advance. You’ll be able to match your required ingredients against specials / discounts at supermarkets in your area.
- Search for frugal recipes. I’m going to launch a new section of this site for budget-based recipes. You’ll find a new one each week!
- Look at the cost per unit of whatever you’re buying. Don’t automatically assume bigger packaging will always ‘work out cheaper’.
- Assess your diet for nutritional value. It doesn’t matter how cheap it is, if you’re going to be hungry again very soon then it doesn’t add up.
- Make it easy on yourself to make the right choices. See my earlier post on saving money on groceries – particularly item number 8 about embracing your flaws.
Got something to add? Please feel free to email or tweet me!
