Types of Dollar Stretching Exercises Employed
March & April, 2008
TOTAL Read Ads Use Coupons Buy Store Brands
Switch to Lower
 Priced Brand
Stock Up at Warehouse Stores

977
100%
554
100%
567
100%
485
100%
402
100%
309
100%
USING MULTIPLE
WAYS TO SAVE 
Read Ads 57% 100% 75% 68% 65% 74%
Use Coupons 58 77 100 66 64 75
Buy Store Brands 50 60 57 100 67 66
Switch to Lower Priced Brands 42 47 45 55 100 48
Stock Up at Warehouse Stores 32 41 41 42 37 100

Mean Number of Exercises Used 2.37 3.25 3.18 3.32 3.33 3.62

FINANCIAL STATUS

Consumer Affordability Index ( CAI) 85 80 83 81 75 77
Consumer Spending Index 76 68 67 62 51 64
Income Class (defined by per capita income)
Upper 7% 6% 5% 6% 4% 7%
Middle 33 34 34 34 30 41
Working 30 32 32 33 33 29
Poverty 13 15 13 15 20 11
Percent Owning Stock 42 42 41 41 36 46
Ratio Buyers to Sellers if stock Prices Drop 10% 1.8 1.2 1.6 1.3 0.9 1.1
Affluence Index 80 76 78 76 64 77
Annual Family Income $50.4 $46.1 $46.8 $46.4 $43.3 $54.2
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
College Graduate 34% 32% 34% 32% 28% 40%
Gender
Male 46% 41% 40% 45% 47% 48%
Female 54 59 60 55 53 52
Age
Under 35 17% 15% 18% 16% 20% 15%
35-49 22 20 21 24 25 25
50-64 29 32 20 32 30 35
65+ 27 28 26 25 20 22
Ethnicity
Hispanic 13% 11% 10% 10% 15% 11%
Black 12% 13 15 11 14 15
White 69% 71 70 74 65 70
Other 6% 5 5 5 6 4