Spending Up, Resilience Down

Across the U.S., consumer card spending continues to rise even as household savings decline. The average family’s financial cushion has thinned noticeably over the past year, and the national saving rate now sits near record lows. The surface strength in spending masks a deeper fragility — one that hints at growing financial strain beneath the numbers.

Growing Divide Between Income Tiers

Higher-income households remain active in travel, dining, and discretionary purchases, while lower- and middle-income consumers are pulling back. Economists expect overall consumer-spending growth to slow through 2025, with inflationary pressure quietly reshaping everyday habits.

The Hidden Fragility

Many households are increasingly relying on credit to maintain their lifestyles. Non-essential purchases are being reconsidered, and monthly subscriptions are being cancelled as saving patterns continue to erode. The result is a slow shift from confidence to caution — a quiet tightening of the wallet that could ripple through key sectors by year’s end.

Brand & Strategic Implications

For consumer brands and financial institutions, the message is clear: sustained spending doesn’t necessarily mean stability. The emerging “two-wallet” economy — one resilient, one stretched — demands segmentation, empathy, and precision in how companies engage, price, and communicate with their audiences.

Readovia Insight

In a landscape where spending persists but savings fade, the most forward-looking enterprises will pivot from velocity and volume to value, loyalty, and resilience. The question is which consumers will spend, and on what terms.