'It's Revenge Everything:' Upticks In Spending As COVID Restrictions Fade Being Dubbed 'Revenge Spending'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A year of being forced to sit on the sidelines is prompting a wave of spending that is being dubbed "Revenge Spending."
Whether it's time to replace the sweats with office-appropriate clothing, or fixing up the home and yard, or traveling to visit someone you haven't seen, the money is flowing.
"There is a need to be social, there's a need to have human interaction, and people are really appreciating the in-store experience," says Tally Personal Finance Expert and Author Bobbi Rebell. "They're looking at their wardrobes and they're going, 'I haven't bought anything but sweats in a year, it's time to go shopping.'"
While need is a factor, Rebell says there is also a psychological side to the spending.
"It's revenge everything. We want our life back, we want revenge on having so much taken away and the freedom to travel and the freedom to spend as we want to that empowerment, we missed for so long," she says.
As a Certified Financial Planner Rebell points out, "The danger is, you're not getting revenge on an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. You're not getting revenge on someone who wronged you, you're kind of ultimately hurting yourself if you're spending the money that you don't want to be spending anyway and that's what we want to be careful about."
"What you don't want to be doing is spending just because you can, and a lot of us have that urge because we haven't been able to spend in so long. We just want the time back, we want the experiences back we want the fun back."
WATCH: Being Smart About Your Spending As Restrictions Loosen
So Rebell says as you are spending keep your "long term" in focus.
"Short, medium and long term what are our financial goals is the spending splurge going to hurt me and make it not possible that I can achieve those goals we want to protect those goals which ultimately are the best rewards," she says.
That said, Rebell says there is no doubt the pandemic has changed our outlook on money and more.
"Now I think we really do value experiences more than we ever thought we did," she says.
Rebell recalled the experience of someone who held off visiting a relative because of money only to lose that person to COVID.
"That money is meaningless," she says. "That money will never get back that time with a loved one, so I think that we did learn that there is a finite amount of time that we should spend thinking of successively about saving. Have that emergency cushion, absolutely pay your bills do not go into debt, be responsible, but don't forget to live your life because we don't know what's coming and money is a resource to help you live your life. Always remember that."
So instead of revenge spending, she says enjoy spending responsibly as you invest in life experiences and relationships.
