As “funflation” makes the cost of leaving the house increasingly expensive, some Americans are turning their spending toward having fun at home.
Spending on hobbies increased 7.9% year over year in August, more than double the 3.4% growth in transactions. That’s the opposite of what happened last August, when transaction growth outpaced spending growth by nearly a percentage point, according to a recent report by the Bank of America Institute analyzing the bank’s card data. That spending growth was double the increase in hobby-related transactions, suggesting consumers were spending more on each purchase.
Some of the biggest spenders on things like arts and craft stores, hobby shops, and outdoor recreation providers and retailers include older Millennials, who are most likely to have children and could be spending not just on their own hobbies but also those of their children, the report said. Gen Z, though, saw little growth in transactions related to hobbies, but also 20% more year over year spending on video games.
This latest hobby spending rebound reverses a decline in spending in the category through late 2024, which the bank said could likely be because “people splurged on hobbies amid social distancing during the pandemic, then gravitated back toward pricier alternatives like travel throughout 2022 and 2023.”
But now, the rising price of going out may be having the opposite effect.
Airline fares were up 23.4% in August compared to the same time a year earlier, according to the latest consumer price index, while prices for food away from home rose 3.4% over the same period. The national average gas price of $4.45 was also up about 30% year over year as of Tuesday, according to AAA motor club.
As inflation remained steady at 3.4% over the past 12 months ending in August, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to try to get inflation back near its 2% target.
Online, many people lamented that some of the simple, often last minute, plans that were once accessible, such as bowling or going to the movies had gotten so expensive that they now required planning and saving.
“It’s insane how common bowling was in my childhood and how no one I know bowls at all anymore. We all just agreed to get priced out,” wrote one user on Reddit.
Others pointed out that even when people save and take the time for an activity like visiting a theme park, they are often asked to shell out for extras like a line-skipping pass or food pass on top of the entry fee.
With costs up across many categories, the “couch economy” has now started to show up in the data.
Research from Visa Business and Economic Insights found that streaming subscriptions sit on more cards than movie theatre and concert spending in the U.S. as well as other countries like the U.K., the U.A.E, Poland, Brazil, and Australia, Fortune previously reported. Meanwhile, the percentage of U.S. domestic spending made through apps has increased to 58% this year, compared to 48% in 2019.
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