Page 432 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Spending on food used to take up a big chunk of the family budget: 6
about 20 percent in 1960 and 16 percent in 1972. Today, it’s closer to

11 percent. Although we’re spending less overall, we spend more on

eating out than Brady Bunch-era families did (the cost of away-from-

home meals consumed about a third of family food budgets in 1970,

compared to about 45 percent today). Thanks in part to bigger

restaurant portions, we’re also eating more calories per day than we
did then. Eating just less restaurant meal a week could save you more

than $1,500 a year, not to mention a few pounds.

We had less space.

The average new home boasts 2,600 square feet of granite- 7
countered, hardwood-floored immenseness. Compare that to the

average new home in 1970, which was less than 1,500 square feet.

Oh, and there were more people living in that smaller home—about

one more person than today, on average. Those smaller homes

typically cost less to heat, cool, insure and maintain. You don’t have to
halve your current living space to save. Knocking just 10 percent off

your housing costs by living smaller would save the typical American

household $1,700.

We drove fewer cars.

One-car households used to be the norm. Only 31 percent of 8
households in 1969 had multiple vehicles. Today, six out of 10

households have more than one car. One in five have three or more.

We pay for this love of wheels: to the tune of 59.2 cents per mile, or