The Russians’ approach to their spending has become more detailed; they save on almost everything. One-third of the participants (32%) of the study, conducted by the “Romir” company, said that during the previous six months they hadn’t concluded any major purchase. Almost all items of expenses have been cut, but the most tangible was cost reduction on clothes and footwear. Not only the inflation is to blame but also, according to experts, expenses on food and basic goods.

In June 2012, only 24% of the respondents confessed that they had not made any major purchases in November 2011 – 22%. A sales slowdown particularly affected the market of clothing and footwear: two years ago, more than 40% of consumers were willing to spend a significant amount of money on the renewal of clothes. In 2013, the number of wishing to spend a lot on this item of expenditure was significantly lower – only 19% of respondents.

Declining interest in entertainment is also becoming more obvious. So, only 6% of households spent large sums on visiting cinemas, theaters, restaurants, and clubs over the past six months. Next year only 4% are planning such spending. Only 8% of the surveyed by the “Romir” respondents are going to allocate significant sums from the family budget for recreation and travel, though half a year ago their number made up 18%.

In general “Romir” noticed the trend of economizing the family budget during the previous survey. If in summer 2012, 33% of the respondents planned to avoid large expenditures during the following six months, then now 32% of them also confirmed such intentions.

This winter it was decided to spend the last financial resources on redecoration of flats and houses. The number of such families amounted to 17%, unexpectedly bringing these expenses to the second place. The researchers from “Romir” note that last summer only 10% planned home improvements. The expenditures for the purchase of automobiles also unexpectedly (two times) jumped; in summer 2012, only 5% of the respondents planned to renew or expand their car fleet, but in reality 8% of the respondent bought automobiles. A similar situation is repeated for two years in succession, the researchers note, but don’t explain the reason.

It turned out that medical services took the third place in the rating of major expenditures – 14%. The researchers believe that the growth of cost of medical services and the expansion of the list of paid services have led to the reduction of the Russians’ spending on health.  For example, in 2012, 18% of the participants of the research named payment  for medical services as major expenditure for half year; while in 2011 they were one in four (24%).     

The reduction of practically all major expense items has taken place against a background of the Russians’ rising nominal income, by 12-13% compared with the beginning of 2012. The “Romir” analysts believe that its major share is eaten up by inflation and daily consumption, which has jumped by 14% during the year.

Source: Retail.ru, based on RBC Daily