Families tried to reign in the spending last year

So, what can the average investor learn from this report? First, it may not be a bad thing to invest in supermarkets - as people were spending more money on eating at home. Of course, this means that restaurants could suffer; as more people eating meals at home mean less people eating meals at restaurants. Second, the savvy investor could capitalize on big-box stores (like Costco:NASDAQ:COST) or on discount retailers. When people are trying to maximize the value purchased for their money, buying in bulk and buying high-quality generic brands make the most sense.

What about the year to come? Watch for entertainment spending to drop. According to the report, this factor inexplicably rose from 2007 to 2008, something has to give there, as entertainment spending should be the first thing cut (notice I said should). In addition, watch for the food spending trend to continue. I know in our modest abode the trend is to cook at home rather than to eat out - thanks mainly to the budget. I expect the trend to spend less to continue, of course, there is a reason that we ended up in this mess. Perhaps there will be enough irresponsible spenders to push the spending higher - but I hope that the personal income will increase a bit more to make up for irresponsible spending.