Frugality comeback

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/04/09/frugality-comeback.html

Survey finds many Americans are managing finances more carefully

•  56 percent say their financial outlook has shifted from scared or confused to confident or prepared.
• 35 percent had endured a large drop in income; 17 percent of breadwinners had lost a job; and, on average, households had lost 34 percent of the value of their assets during the recession.
•  42 percent regularly contribute more to workplace savings plans, including retirement or health-savings accounts; 72 percent report having less debt; and 42 percent are saving more for emergencies.

And here’s the kicker: 3 out of 4 of the newly confident say that the financial changes they've made are from permanent changes to their behavior.

While today’s college students may be questioning whether they’ll ever be able to afford their parents’ lifestyle, given a scarcity of jobs and high tuition rates, new data shows it still pays to go to college.

According to a January report from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those with a college degree typically earned $1,066 a week during 2012. This compares with $652 a week for high-school graduates.

College also insulates people from unemployment; the rate for high-school graduates in 2012 was 8.3 percent; it was just 4.5 percent for those with a bachelor’s degree.