An annual New Year’s personal finance survey commissioned by Slickdeals, a site where consumers and editors pass around information about available bargains, suggested the consumers may be rethinking their personal finances as they look to 2023.
Yet, when asked whether or not their 2023 New Year’s resolutions included being smarter with money, only 63% said yes, down from 76% in 2021 and 73% in 2020. Then, 11% said they were so frustrated with 2022 that they’re not even going to bother making resolutions at all.
In 2021, 66% of respondents claimed 2022 would be the year they become financially stable, but only 53% expressed the same sentiment for 2023. At the same time, 55% of consumers said they planned to repair their financial status in 2023 by spending money more wisely, at 54%, removing unnecessary bills, at 41%, getting out of debt, at 36%, and creating a monthly budget, at 35%. Their intention is to save an average of $312 per month.
As they look ahead, 79% of consumers surveyed shared concern about inflation, with 66% seeing it as a major setback to them reaching their financial goals in 2023. Other factors that played into consumer economic outlook include gas prices, at 52%, paying more bills, at 38%, and the ongoing pandemic, at 32%.
Inflation has caused 59% of consumers to postpone making major purchases such as cars, at 42%, clothing, at 38%, new phones, at 31%, renovation projects, at 28%, and new computers, at 24%, Slickdeals maintained.