Economic rituals

[robeiae]

Here are some of mine:

1) I always go grocery shopping on Saturday.
2) I always "pay the bills" in the first week of each month.
3) I have an amount of money taken automatically from my checking account and put into savings every month.
4) I go to the bank once a week.

Why do I mention them? Well, I've been thinking about the way the economy responds to large-scale changes in behavior. Not just in major things, but in minor ones, as well.

Take the grocery shopping bit. My father always shopped on Saturdays when I was growing up. And I think that was largely--far more so than today--the norm. People did their grocery shopping on week-ends.

What that meant for the grocery store was that it could run with a skeleton crew through most of the week. It really didn't have to worry about full shelves until Friday. Then, it was critical that every product was on the shelf. Since grocery stores operate on a shoestring margin, they need to be sure that people are able to buy everything they want to buy. Not having a particular deodorant--for instance--might mean no profit from someone doing his/her shopping, once expenses are figured in.

Now, I notice that stores are busier during the week. They're still busiest on the week-ends, but I see it evening out, ever so slightly. This means a skeleton crew won't do it. And it means that product has to be there in full every day. The margins are getting smaller, I think.

Beyond this, "economic rituals" lend predictability to the economy. My feeling is that fewer and fewer people practice such things and/or people have fewer rituals that they do practice (I have many more--I only listed a few to give a sense of what I mean).

Watcha think? Got any?

[alleycat]

I have three separate savings account I use for various purposes. One is an emergency fund, one is for special expenses (house or car repairs, that sort of thing), and one is for large purchases such as a car (I pay cash for my cars).

I do a budget each month.

I try to run most of my errands either on the way to work, or on the drive home.

I try to make myself wait a week before making large purchases. Oftentimes I will decides not to even buy the item in question.

I try to buy quality items that last. For example, a cheap coffeemaker might only last a year; my Cuisinart is still going strong after several years (except I did have to buy a replacement carafe).

[kuwisdelu]

I don't really have any rituals. I just go shopping and pay the bills whenever I have time and it's convenient. Some nights I'll have homework that keeps me busy until 2am, so it just depends on those rare nights I'm able to get anything else done.

Having a friend across the hall with a car makes it much easier to buy groceries whenever we need something, instead of waiting til the weekend. In fact most of our grocery shopping gets done after midnight. It's a difference of an hour-long diversion vs. a whole afternoon on the bus.

[Clair Dickson]

I shop Wednesday night. Used to be Tuesday nights b/c I was in town at work. Now that I live in town, Hubby and I go together. We go about 10pm, which is important so I don't kill someone who has their [expletive deleted] car across the [expletive deleted] while they compare types of cookies. I don't tolerate others well at the grocery store. (Note on work staff-- If these places didn't make money by staying open, they wouldn't do it. Simple as that.)

I do my errands on the way home or group them together.

I don't buy clothes unless I have a gift card or need to replace a particularly often used article of clothing.

I buy used cars and drive them until the wheels fall off. I'm actually getting a bit concerned about my current car... I don't have replacement and them wheels are looking about ready to fall off.

[sulong]

I never make a deposit the same week I receive funds.

I never let my cash-in-pocket get below a set amount. Just in case I need it, even though I never have needed it.

[Fullback]

Your examples are just your behavior and really don't affect the economy. Also, businesses change staffing based on sales or demand. If you observe more staffing, then there is demand to support it. Variable costs are financing and accounting concepts, not economics. The game is economics. Keeping score and color commentary (behavior) about the game is accounting.

I live in a place that has never used checking accounts or checks, bills are paid in cash or deducted automatically and people shop almost daily in small quantities. None of those affect the economy. It's just behavior.

[Kate Thornton]

Behavior on a large enough scale is the economy.

[Jerry B. Flory]

Here are some of mine:

1) I always go grocery shopping on Saturday.
2) I always "pay the bills" in the first week of each month.
3) I have an amount of money taken automatically from my checking account and put into savings every month.
4) I go to the bank once a week.


Is this economic related or is this obsessive compulsive?
I'm not making fun of you or trying to start shit.
Maybe you should look at that.

[katiemac]

Is this economic related or is this obsessive compulsive?
I'm not making fun of you or trying to start shit.
Maybe you should look at that.

I'm not sure how someone being organized about their bills translates into being obsessive compulsive.

[Don]

Your examples are just your behavior and really don't affect the economy. Also, businesses change staffing based on sales or demand. If you observe more staffing, then there is demand to support it. Variable costs are financing and accounting concepts, not economics. The game is economics. Keeping score and color commentary (behavior) about the game is accounting.

I live in a place that has never used checking accounts or checks, bills are paid in cash or deducted automatically and people shop almost daily in small quantities. None of those affect the economy. It's just behavior.

Behavior on a large enough scale is the economy.
Kate nailed it. Economics is not mathematics, although the two are conflated in the popular mind.

To GREATLY simplify, economics is really about the billions of choices individuals make every day, how they make them, and how society's organization impacts the aggregate satisfaction of all players.

The economy is what happens when goods are produced and exchanged. What DC says about it is simply spin. Keynesian economists regularly make this mistake, assuming the cart goes before the horse.

[Monkey]

I go shopping on Saturday. I go out to eat on shopping day--and usually that's the only meal of the week that I'll do so. I try very hard to avoid WalMart and Exxon, even if it means paying more. I buy organic, local, and fair trade products whenever possible. I don't use credit.

And yeah, the more I think of it, the more there are.

Part of the reason is habit (like eating out on shopping day), part is expediency (shopping on Saturday), and part of it is my belief in making conscious choices with my cash. I mean, I buy organic bananas because, to me, there's a huge difference in taste. But I buy organic, cage-free eggs even if I'm just going to use them in cookies, because I think it's better to support companies that take better care of their livestock (same with organic, pasture raised beef or milk). I know that one of the best ways to support a company, or the organic movement, or fair trade is to give them your cash. :D

The only way I could ever personally punish a company like Exxon or WalMart is to deny them my cash. Of course, my $5 won't break them--they won't even notice it--but more and more people are buying into the philosophy of voting with their dollars, and when I see WalMart trying so hard to convince people that it's concerned about people and the environment (as in its commercials and donations and such), I know that the reason for that is economic. It wants to gain back those people like me. But without real change they can't. You'll never get me, WalMart! You can't take me alive! I will resist! :D

[GeorgeK]

My father always shopped on Saturdays when I was growing up. And I think that was largely--far more so than today--the norm. People did their grocery shopping on week-ends.

Watcha think? Got any?

I don't know how long ago you are talking about but it was the case until the 60's-70's that the average (or at least it wasn't uncommon) houshold only had one car and grocery stores weren't open in the evenings or at all on Sunday.