Cleo, the consumer app that encourages better financial decisions, has released its 2022 Money Trend Report, an analysis of how Americans are spending, saving and thinking about money going into 2023. The report looked at data from U.S. users between January and December 2022 and a survey of U.S. users taken in November 2022.
Despite the economic downturn in 2022, survey respondents told the company their money goals are not shifting as they look to the year ahead. While in 2022, 42 percent of people said paying off debt was a top priority, followed by 23 percent who said saving for the future and 16 percent who said making a large purchase, for 2023, 36 percent of people said paying off debt will be a top focus with priority for saving for the future and making a large purchase both increasing to 26 percent.
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“We’re excited to release Cleo’s first Money Trend Report this year at a time when people are rethinking how they will adjust their approach to spending and saving money,” said Kimberly Dillion, vice president of Brand at Cleo. “One big trend is that inflation and the cost-of-living crisis are impacting people’s mental health negatively, but perhaps a bright spot that we saw is that our users are turning to thrifting as a way to save money and get that endorphin hit.”
Looking at how finances are contributing to poor mental health, Cleo’s report points to 74 percent of people who said cost of living increases are impacting spending decisions for 2023. Additionally, 73 percent said money has negatively impacted their lives this year. When asked for the best word to describe the role of money in their life right now, 46 percent of survey respondents said “anxious” while 22 percent said “sad” and just 13 percent said “excited.”
As inflation rose during the last year, secondhand shopping saw a correlated rise. Cleo users spent more than $36 million at secondhand stores in 2022 and the average spend per individual transaction at secondhand merchants was $163. The most popular secondhand retailers for Cleo users were eBay, Goodwill and Poshmark.
Another quarter of Cleo users also reported they had used buy now, pay later services to mitigate spending in 2022.
Overall, Cleo found the most “spendthrift cities” with people most likely to spend on recreation to be New York City, Denver and Pittsburgh, where people reported 20 percent of the money they spend monthly goes toward eating out, entertainment and shopping.