Posted on 01/02/2009 5:00:44 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Piggy banks fly off shelves in freshly frugal U.S.
By Alister Bull Wed Dec 31, 2:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Recession-wary Americans embraced the virtues of thrift this Christmas, with stores reporting a clear rise in the popularity of piggy banks.
"We have been selling coin banks really well," said Laura Kellner at Kikkerland Design Inc. in New York City, whose stylish chrome pig is priced at $31.
U.S. savings levels have increased markedly in recent months as households adjust to a yearlong recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The downturn has shattered house prices and the value of retirement accounts which, in turn, has reinforced the necessity to systematically put funds aside for the future.
Retailers said this translated neatly into a gift that captured the spirit of the times.
"We definitely noticed a trend with the piggy banks," said Erin Mara at Homebody, a design store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC.
"People were very upfront about the need to save...the pig is very symbolic of that sentiment," she said.
Personal saving as a proportion of U.S. disposable income rose to 2.8 percent in November compared with zero back in April, but remain well below the 10 percent range it occupied back in the early 1980s.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping!
It actually costs more than a penny to make a penny.
Interesting. I’ll sell you a mason jar; even a blue one with a lead top, for $5. You can keep your money in that, versus a $31 chrome pig.
Fools. If THIS constitutes ‘frugality’ we are gonna be in a world of hurt.
Demonstrating that this year's "frugality" is just as symbolic as last year's "environmentalism." It's all about the show, not about making real changes in one's life.
It will take a while and a lot of pain to get out of this habit.
Why not just make them solid gold and take out debt to buy them?
Some people will be saving more and spending less, but they they won't be the ones "saving" by buying $31 piggy banks, or "cutting spending" by installing home theaters and having kitchens remodeled, as an article yesterday (I think) mentioned.
Bull is right.
That’ll work :-).
My “decorative bottle” from a garage sale sits on the floor...and is filling up. Who wants an ugly chrome pig??
We keep our change in a jar that once had jelly beans in it, about 25 years ago. When it’s full, whoever takes the time to roll the coins gets the money.
In the future Islamic America they will be banned.
Time to buy is now.
How can a pig be symbolic of such disparate concepts... that of pork-seeking ‘Rats in national and state capitals all over the land, as well as the frugal bank for a bookcase shelf.
+1.
I’ve got a big glass coke bottle that I got in Canada during a high school field trip 25 years ago that I’ve been collecting change in ever since.
It’s a riot that these folks think that spending $31 on a chrome pig is a demonstration of frugality.
My wife tells me I’m so tight that only dogs can hear me pass gas. Does this mean I’m trend setter now?
I have a collection of flying pigs...but none is a bank.
Next story:
“Muslims Offended By Piggy Banks”
Will Comrade Urkle have them outlawed when he is Coronated President?
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