Dynamics of expenses of the Russian family in modern conditions

Abstract

The subject of the study is the dynamics of real expenses of the Russian family.

The purpose of the work is to establish the prospects for changes in the expenses of the Russian population in the future based on the identification of negative factors that hinder the increase in real incomes of people. It is established that with the growth of people’s material well-being, the share of spending on meeting natural needs in the household budget decreases and the number and cost of benefits increases to meet the individual’s need for a high assessment by society of his personality, which consists in the desire to acquire such benefits that distinguish him from other people or ensure recognition of his belonging to a higher social group of society. The method of identifying goods with a high share of prestigious value is given and the answer to the question is given: what part of the budget is an individual willing to sacrifice to satisfy his ambition. The main directions of reducing consumer spending are being established. Special attention is paid to optimizing the costs of food, housing, transport, education, and healthcare. The factors influencing the size of monetary savings and ways to optimize them are considered.

It is concluded that it is necessary to identify unnecessary expenses by keeping records of personal and family expenses and applying for this purpose a functional cost analysis of family budget expenditures, in particular to identify goods and services that a family can do without.