Consumers Opt for Staples With Tax Rebate Checks

While consumers still plan to spend nearly 40 percent of their economic stimulus checks, pumping $42.2 billion back into the economy, what they’re planning to spend them on appears to be shifting from when the bill was signed into law in February.

According to the 2008 Tax Rebates Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey from the National Retail Federation, conducted by BIGresearch — which polled 8,347 consumers on how they plan to spend their economic stimulus checks — consumers expect to spend more of their checks on necessities like gas and food rather than on discretionary items such as electronics and apparel. Here are some more findings revealed in the survey.