NEW YORK — The “latte effect” of the go-go years had consumers spending $4 a day on coffee. Now, the downturn is forcing them to rethink the wisdom of such habits.
As inflation squeezes budgets, middle-class Americans are taking fresh stock of their spending in search of ways to save a nickel or a dime. The result: People are giving up a variety of small financial vices. For Michelle Hovis, that means refilling her husband’s used soda container from a 2-liter bottle she buys on sale for 98 cents. She tweaked his daily habit of buying a 20-ounce bottle when the price crept up to $1.39. “The price of gas, milk, eggs — everything you can’t control — is going up. So you need to watch the things you can control,” said Hovis, a 31-year-old stay-at-home mom from Iron Station, N.C.
