And your prediction is?

[rob62521]

As we weather the basic shut down of most states due to Covid 19, do you think people will reconsider how they are living their lives once things open up? Do you think they will put money aside for those rainy days, or expect the government to continue to send money if we have a reoccurrence? Do you look for more people to start gardens this summer? Or will things go back to what was normal where so many spend like crazy once things open up?

[Scallywag]

People have short memories. They'll go back to same old same old once "this" is over. Even the Great Depression's lessons apparently didn't stick!

[disneysteve]

I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago:

https://www.savingadvice.com/forums/forum/financial-chit-chat/general-discussion/709003-how-will-spending-habits-change-post-covid

[disneysteve]

Even the Great Depression's lessons apparently didn't stick!

I disagree with that. Those who were raised during the Depression often maintained that mindset throughout their lives. My mom is 89 so she was born in 1930 and raised as a child of the Depression. To this day, she does things that are from that upbringing even though she has plenty of money now and has no financial need to do them.

Now if you mean that the lessons of the Depression didn't carry on to the later generations, yes, that's certainly true. People really only change based on what they have personally experienced, not what others have. It's too soon to know how this will affect today's young people who are in their formative years. They may well grow up with the sense that they need to be prepared for the next time something like this happens.

[kork13]

People have short memories. They'll go back to same old same old once "this" is over. Even the Great Depression's lessons apparently didn't stick!

I'd argue that the lessons from the Great Depression did stick... But they stuck with a generation that is now in its 80s/90s. I think the different between then & now is that the Great Depression lasted about a decade -- thus, the habits that were necessary to survive those conditions fully normalized into peoples' lives. That normalization takes months and years. The US has been in the middle of this for just over a month, and they're already talking about moving toward getting back toward normalcy. So while this will cause some people to change their basic habit patters, it's not going to be a vast segment of our society. And as younger folks grow into adulthood, those things will have progressively less and less influence.

[disneysteve]

I'd argue that the lessons from the Great Depression did stick... But they stuck with a generation that is now in its 80s/90s. I think the different between then & now is that the Great Depression lasted about a decade -- thus, the habits that were necessary to survive those conditions fully normalized into peoples' lives. That normalization takes months and years. The US has been in the middle of this for just over a month, and they're already talking about moving toward getting back toward normalcy. So while this will cause some people to change their basic habit patters, it's not going to be a vast segment of our society. And as younger folks grow into adulthood, those things will have progressively less and less influence.

Exactly. What remains to be seen is how long lasting the current situation will be. If things recover relatively quickly, there won't be any lessons learned. If we enter an extended recession, it might be a different story.

[Scallywag]

I disagree with that. Those who were raised during the Depression often maintained that mindset throughout their lives. My mom is 89 so she was born in 1930 and raised as a child of the Depression. To this day, she does things that are from that upbringing even though she has plenty of money now and has no financial need to do them.

Now if you mean that the lessons of the Depression didn't carry on to the later generations, yes, that's certainly true. People really only change based on what they have personally experienced, not what others have. It's too soon to know how this will affect today's young people who are in their formative years. They may well grow up with the sense that they need to be prepared for the next time something like this happens.

It didn't stick because MOST children of the Depression did not pass on their frugality & thrift to their children. Many habits are ingrained from childhood -- children watch & learn. A child raised by a frugal child of the Depression is unlikely to be a spendthrift, yet America has a SPENDING & not a saving culture! Why?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Online seed sellers began running out of some seeds early this spring, and set banner messages communicating that they were overwhelmed with orders. I saw a similar but smaller upswing in seed purchases in 2008-10.

I've hired a neighbor with a landscaping business to do some local garden shopping for me this year. He told me one nursery he stopped at had a 45 minute line to check out. I've been to that nursery several times in the past and could just walk right up to the check-out with no-one ahead of me. So, yes, I'd say it looks like more people are going to try to garden.

[disneysteve]

It didn't stick because MOST children of the Depression did not pass on their frugality & thrift to their children. Many habits are ingrained from childhood -- children watch & learn. A child raised by a frugal child of the Depression is unlikely to be a spendthrift, yet America has a SPENDING & not a saving culture! Why?

I think there are probably a couple of different issues at play here. Not everyone who grew up in the Depression responded the same way. Some took the lessons to heart and vowed to never waste a penny again as long as they live. Others probably felt deprived and vowed to never live that way again. As soon as they grew up and started having money, they wanted to enjoy it and live life to the fullest.

And the same is likely true of their children. Some probably saw their families living frugally but being very happy and followed in their footsteps while others saw it as scrimping and saving and never doing anything fun or special because they didn't want to spend the money and when those kids grew up, they rebelled against that Depression-era mindset.

My parents were children of the Depression - mom born in 1930 and dad in 1923. Growing up they were always frugal, not that I recognized it at the time, but we always had what we needed. We did fun things. I grew up going to flea markets and auctions and yard sales and shopping at thrift shops. We weren't poor. We did it because it was fun, but I'm sure my parents also did it because of that Depression mindset and frugality. I just saw it as fun stuff to do, not as a type of deprivation. We still bought new stuff and toys and birthday and holiday gifts. It wasn't all hand me downs and second hand stuff. There was a good balance. That's how I was raised and that's how we've tried to raise our daughter. She's now 24 and I think she has a similar mindset. She's a little more spendy than I'd like sometimes but she appreciates what she has and understands the value of being frugal where you can be so that you can afford to do the other stuff.

[Scallywag]

I think there are probably a couple of different issues at play here. Not everyone who grew up in the Depression responded the same way. Some took the lessons to heart and vowed to never waste a penny again as long as they live. Others probably felt deprived and vowed to never live that way again. As soon as they grew up and started having money, they wanted to enjoy it and live life to the fullest.

And the same is likely true of their children. Some probably saw their families living frugally but being very happy and followed in their footsteps while others saw it as scrimping and saving and never doing anything fun or special because they didn't want to spend the money and when those kids grew up, they rebelled against that Depression-era mindset.

My parents were children of the Depression - mom born in 1930 and dad in 1923. Growing up they were always frugal, not that I recognized it at the time, but we always had what we needed. We did fun things. I grew up going to flea markets and auctions and yard sales and shopping at thrift shops. We weren't poor. We did it because it was fun, but I'm sure my parents also did it because of that Depression mindset and frugality. I just saw it as fun stuff to do, not as a type of deprivation. We still bought new stuff and toys and birthday and holiday gifts. It wasn't all hand me downs and second hand stuff. There was a good balance. That's how I was raised and that's how we've tried to raise our daughter. She's now 24 and I think she has a similar mindset. She's a little more spendy than I'd like sometimes but she appreciates what she has and understands the value of being frugal where you can be so that you can afford to do the other stuff.

Yes, your parents were the exception, which is why I said that the lessons of the Depression did not stick. Neither did the lessons of the dotcom bust & the great recession.

[disneysteve]

Yes, your parents were the exception, which is why I said that the lessons of the Depression did not stick. Neither did the lessons of the dotcom bust & the great recession.

I think the lessons from all of those DID stick with the people who experienced them. They may not have transferred to other generations but they stuck with those who were affected by them.

Unfortunately, people rarely learn from the experiences of others. We, as a species, are fantastic at making the same mistakes over and over and over again, not learning from our collective past. "It can't happen to me" is the prevailing motto.

[ua_guy]

As we weather the basic shut down of most states due to Covid 19, do you think people will reconsider how they are living their lives once things open up? Do you think they will put money aside for those rainy days, or expect the government to continue to send money if we have a reoccurrence? Do you look for more people to start gardens this summer? Or will things go back to what was normal where so many spend like crazy once things open up?

I want to believe that people will save money and think about the future. I want to believe this will make people think about their actions and see themselves as part of a larger, inter-connected picture. I hope it brings families together and that it inspires people to value life above all else, and really enjoy living, if they took those things for granted before all this happened.

I don't know that it will. This has been devastating for so many, with savings and opportunities lost, or worse yet, family and friends. It's encouraged us to be even moreso politically divisive than before, if that's possible. I fear only the largest companies will survive and they will take the opportunity to extract even more productivity from people desperate for jobs, aka modern enslavement. I think it will widen the gaps in financial classes and make mobility between them even more difficult. I fear healthcare could become a luxury for the rich and exclusionary of the poor. In many ways, it already is---but even moreso after this passes.

My immediate prediction is that the economy won't just "re-open". People will need jobs. And money. And I think a lot of people will be fearful to re-integrate into their busy, high-touch lives in crowded cubicle farms or where close personal contact is possible.

[kork13]

My grandmother lived through the depression, and still lives a very minimal, ultra-thrifty life. She raised her children that way, and it undoubtedly drove much of the thrifty, careful habits that I learned from my father. Of course, one of my brothers is quite the opposite, and picked up my mother's more loose spending habits. But from my grandmother, many of those depression era lessons have definitely survived.

[Scallywag]

I think the lessons from all of those DID stick with the people who experienced them. They may not have transferred to other generations but they stuck with those who were affected by them.

Unfortunately, people rarely learn from the experiences of others. We, as a species, are fantastic at making the same mistakes over and over and over again, not learning from our collective past. "It can't happen to me" is the prevailing motto.

No, they don't learn from THEIR OWN experiences. I have friends who lost EVERYTHING in the dot com bust up. You'd think they'd learn from that... NOPE. When the housing collapse came along, they were underwater in their homea but couldn't afford to sell the place! And now they have less than a month's expenses saved up and its UGLY. They unfortunately are not the exception, and haven't learned from their own former experiences so no...we are a spending culture and unlikely to change.

[disneysteve]

No, they don't learn from THEIR OWN experiences. I have friends who lost EVERYTHING in the dot com bust up. You'd think they'd learn from that... NOPE. When the housing collapse came along, they were underwater in their homea but couldn't afford to sell the place!

How old were they when the dot com thing happened? Do you have any idea if they changed their investing strategy after that? Many people who got burned by that or by the 2008 crash stayed out of stocks for years after that, some scared off for good. That isn't the right lesson to take away from that but it is what a lot of people "learned" from the experience.