Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Buying habits changing

It's an obvious fact that our buying habits change as our households change. In high school my buying habits were much different than they are now in college. I had a good idea that this happened, but I didn't fully realize it until I went home over Thanksgiving break.
While at school I don't buy a whole lot of food. I have a meal plan so I eat many meals on campus. I eat out a decent amount (maybe 5 times a month) and I buy tea and soda about every other day, but other than that I don't spend a whole lot of money. Not having an income could be a good reason for that fact.
When I went home for break is when I realized how different my buying habits change. We don't eat many meals as a family at home due to different work schedules, so I usually am pretty on my own for eating. On breaks I sleep in for a long time so I might not wake up until around lunch time. Because of that, I usually only eat two meals a day, one around 3pm and then again late at night. Over break I found myself eating out with my friends literally every night. I went home on Tuesday, so from Tuesday to Saturday I was spending anywhere from $3-$8 every single night.
Eating out so much could very possibly have to do with the fact that there is nothing to do after 10pm in my town, so going out to eat is the first activity we think of, but regardless that is a lot of money. That is 5 times in less than one week compared to my regular 5 times in one month. This just goes to show that buying habits can definitely change depending on which household you are taking place. It also shows that buying habits can change instantly. It's not always just a gradual change.

3 comments:

  1. So true. When I lived by myself I bought groceries and ate at home. Then when I moved back I didn't hardly spend money on food anymore. I do the same whenever we have breaks. Over the summer after work there was about two weeks where I literally went out to eat every night with friends. Once school started, I went back to barely going out at all. Then Thanksgiving came around and I ate a lot out again.
    It's crazy how quickly I adapt and change habits that I can have for months just in as little as two days.

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  2. I agree. I also think this is due in part to social influences. I always find myself going out to eat with friends as a social activity because it is an easy way to hang out and get to talk and spend time together. While I'm here at school I barely eat out because I have a limited income flow and don't want to spend money, but when I get in groups of people that tends to change. When one person says, "Hey let's go grab some Taco Bell," we all jump on that despite the fact that none of us really want to actually pay to go out to eat. We tend to groupthink and accept each others' ideas because we don't want to look left out. I believe the differences in our buying habits in groups and when alone are a major factor to pay attention to and I think social influence is the major reason for that.

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  3. This is something that I can definitely relate to because when I go home for breaks I feel like I am in a totally different living environment than when I am at school. I have a completely different household type which influences my buying behaviors because here at school I live with a roommate, but I am pretty much a single houselhold type since it is all up to me to buy all my own things that I need and being a college student my funds are limited so I pay a lot more attention to what I purchase. But when I go home my parents take care of a lot of my purchases so I am a lot more carefree on my spending and tend to buy a lot more things than are completely necessary. So, I definitely agree that different living environments influence buying behaviors drastically.

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