The FINANCIAL -- Every day Americans have to make small decisions about spending as well as saving money.

Are they going to get that latte in the morning? Go out for dinner tonight? Take that found $20 and put it in their savings or go to the movies? As the economy has sputtered, these decisions have become part of people's everyday thought process - but are there signs that people might be more willing to spend?

Three in five Americans (59%) say that within the next six months they are likely to decrease spending on eating out at restaurants, similar to the number who said this in November of last year (61%). Additionally, just over half (55%) say they plan on reducing spending on entertainment in the next 6 months; while this does represent a majority, it is also the lowest this number has been since the question was first asked in November of 2008. These are the results of The Harris Poll of 2,383 adults surveyed online between November 14 and 19, 2012.

Overall, three in ten (30%) Americans say they are likely to have more money to spend the way they want over the next six months, up from 26% who said this last November. And holding steady is the half of U.S. adults (50%) who say they anticipate saving or investing more money in the next six months. Looking at some larger spending items U.S. adults expect that they will do in the next six months:

Three in ten Americans (29%) say they will likely take a vacation away from homing lasting longer than a week, same as last November;

One-quarter (24%) anticipate buying a new computer; 23% said this in November, 2011;

When it comes to moving, 16% anticipate moving to a different residence (14% last November) and 8% anticipate purchasing a house or condo (7% last November);

Over one in ten (13%) expect that they will buy or lease a newly manufactured car, truck or van (12% in November, 2011) and 5% anticipate buying a boat or recreational vehicle (up from 3% last November); and,
Less than one in ten U.S. adults (8%) plan on starting a new business (6% in November, 2011).
 
Small ticket spending -- There are also smaller changes people can make in their spending. When asked about a list of 12 changes people could make to save money, there are some changes that have taken place over the last year. Some of the results include:

57% of U.S. adults say they have been purchasing more generic brands over the past six months, which is down from the 61% who said so in December, 2011;

Two in five (41%) now say they are brown bagging lunch, which is about the same as the 42% who said so last December;

One-third of Americans report switching to refillable water bottles rather than purchasing bottles of water (33%) and one in five stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (20%), up slightly from the 31% and 17%, respectively, who said so in December, 2011;

In terms of media consumption, over one-quarter of Americans have canceled one or more magazine subscriptions (27%, up from 25%), one in five have canceled or cut back on cable television service (21%, no change from 2011), and 16% have canceled a newspaper subscription (15% in December 2011);

Looking at communications, 16% have cancelled landline service and are only using a cell phone (up from 14% in December, 2011) and 14% of U.S. adults have changed or cancelled their cell phone service (no change from last year);

Over a third of Americans are still cutting back on going to the hairdresser, barber or stylist (38%) and about one in five are cutting down on their dry cleaning (18%). Both numbers are similar than last year (37% and 19% respectively); and 14% report that they began carpooling or using mass transit, which is similar to last year, though this number is less telling as in suburban or rural areas these may not be viable options.

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