An Introduction

Americans like to spend money. No, I correct myself. Everyone likes to spend money. In some way, fashion or method (honorable or otherwise) we acquire the precious commodity, and are then faced with an innumerable array of opportunities in which to spend it. We could save it for either ourselves or our children’s future, use it to buy something necessary for our daily life or even use it to play in the ever-changing, always unexpected world of the “market.” Or, we merely squander every nickel and dime in the quickest, dirtiest way possible.

Spending habits are also a sign of the passing years and the social systems which evolve out of rising and falling prices of the goods and commodities that make up so much of our life. The state of the national market, as well as what is available for consumers to purchase, defines who we are as a nation, a culture and humans.

This project evolved out of a very typical situation: I, a college student, needed help assessing my financial state before I was shoved unceremoniously into a “real world” filled with such things as mortgages, household budgets and other such still-foreign anxieties. My spending isn’t atrocious—I’ve always been relatively frugal and keen as to how much money I can spend. But I also wanted to consider my spending on another level; one that is socioeconomic, anthropological as well as philosophical. Yes, that seems quite far-fetched and I will probably never mention those terms ever again (they should probably remain in the college classroom). But I hope that by chronicling my spending for at least the next three months (my last summer vacation before I am a college graduate), I can identify patterns, discover my role in this freewheeling and oftentimes unpredictable economy, as well as gain a little insight into U.S. consumer culture.

Oh, and I also need to balance my checkbook so that it’s not as frightening. That’s something I’m sure we all can relate to. Yikes.