Weekly Update: I Like to Move It, Move It

by Kelly

in Links Galore

While my sons are certainly chatty now, at the ages of 7.5 and 6 years old, they have nothing on m 2.5 year old daughter who talks nonstop from the moment she wakes up  to the time she goes to sleep. Her latest fun thing to say (sing, really) is: “I like to move it, move it.”

Why yes, we have seen Madagascar recently, why do you ask?

A company called ThingLoop contacted me this week, as part of their marketing to promote their new website. I liked what they have to say, and so I’m passing the information, and link to their YouTube video, on. (I’m not being compensated in any way for doing so.)

We’ve recently launched a website, thingloop, aimed at enhancing community/shared life by enabling people to share their stuff more easily within their social network. We believe that by sharing our possessions we could significantly reduce the amount of unnecessary consumption of goods, and save ourselves money in the process.

Here’s the link to their video: ThingLoop: What’s the Big Idea? (Caution, there’s a voiceover that starts immediately.) It seems really interesting- the difference between this platform and others, is that it works within your own network of people you already know. I like that.

I also found out about an independantly conducted study, called Financial Realities, which was commissioned by Northwestern Mutual. (Again, I’m not being compensated for telling you about it.) It reveals some really interesting shifts in Americans’ attitudes toward money, and their financial expectations for the future.

It puts some solid numbers behind the “New Frugality” trend after the economic downturn, and also reveals some surprising information.  One example – younger people (age 25-34) have considerably greater intent to bulk up their saving over the next year than those 55 and up.  Here are some more details:

  • 65% of people have experienced a serious financial challenge over the last 18 months.  In response, a fundamental shift in mindset has taken hold across the country. People have quickly embraced a highly conservative approach to their financial planning, priorities and preferences.
  • People in large numbers (70+%) are willing to sacrifice the potential for high growth in the near-term for the safety and security of lower-risk / lower reward choices. This flight to security is even more pronounced with women than it is with men.
  • People continue to save more than they’re spending, although at a lower rate than last year, and despite some very serious near-term realities such as unemployment, investment losses, foreclosure, etc.    40% of people aged 25-34 expect to bulk up their savings over the next 12 months, compared to 23% of those 55 and up.
  • 75% of people have adopted – or perhaps just accepted – a longer-term view of meeting their financial goals.
  • Overall, the findings indicate pretty clearly that people are rethinking and recalibrating their personal risk/reward meters.  The days when everyone seemed focused first and foremost on immediate gains are – for now at least – over.

I admit it- I’m a geek for research and studies (I was a sociology major for a while in college and now do a lot of research in my job as a marketer) and I found this interesting- I hope you will too.

Without further ado, here are our favorites from the past week:

As always, you can check out the Good Reads page or our Tumblr site Almost Frugal Finds for all our links.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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