5 Things People Spend Money On
People have a certain amount of spendable income in their personal budget, and they spend the majority of that expendable cash in 5 general areas.
This excludes necessities such as food, shelter, transportation, etc and focuses strictly on the areas where people are most likely to spend their hard-earned cash. There is a difference between wants and needs, sometimes a fine line even, but the emotional appeal is often found in the list of wants.
There are a lot of things that can fall into these 5 categories, but if you are creating websites or products to sell online you should give special consideration to these 5 areas where people spend money…
- Love
The booming online dating industry is proof enough of this one. People spend money on personal ads, online dating accounts, actual dating (yes, in real life!
), books to make them better at dating, relationship advice & therapy (ouch!), engagement rings, flowers and candy on Valentines day – just to name a few. The desire (and need) for love can not always be rationalized or explained, but it is a major driving force within most credit card carrying adults.
- Money
Or I should say more money. Spending money to make money is considered an investment, and more easily rationalized than other expenses in the “want” category. The emotion tied to money topics ranges from stress/debt relief to a deep desire for material wealth.
- Beauty
From anti-aging products to cosmetic surgery, this is an exploding industry in our generation. Looking good makes people feel good, and the angles for emotional appeal are practically endless. Niches within this market include fashion, fitness, cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, skin care, anti-aging products, fragrances, nail trends and much more.
- Health
Fear of death and illness plays a big role in the money spent within this industry. From preventative care to natural remedies, and everything in between, people want to extend their life span – and enjoy every day of it in good health. Fitness & exercise also fit into this category, of course, in addition to: medication, vitamins, nutrition, weight loss, insurance programs and resources for healthy living
- Entertainment
This includes hobbies and personal interests in addition to the traditional ideas of entertainment, such as: movies, music, games, television, events, travel, etc. These are generally impulse purchases with high appeal to specific markets that have a slight tendency towards additions. The person who spends money on a particular type of collectible, usually spends a lot of money on those collectibles. They are more the recurring type of purchase than the one-time buy – often filling the need to have the latest & greatest item on the market: the latest release in a line of collectibles, the newest movie, the new & improved version of their favorite game, etc.
This should spark some great ideas for website topics and product ideas. Use WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool to dig into the niches within these markets and explore the possibilities!
Best,
If you are still looking for a niche or market to capitalize on, download my Keyword Research Secrets report for only $5 and learn how I go from “an idea off the top of my head” to a profitable niche and a perfect domain name… in 5 minutes flat! 
Tags: spendable cash, expendable cash, love, money, beauty, health, entertainment, spendable income, expendable income, hard earned cash, personal budget
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Very interesting. Personally, I spend a lot of money on my kids! In fact, I sometimes wonder what people do with their money if they don’t have kids. Since my husband is ill, a lot of my money goes to medical bills as well, so it’s definitely in people’s best interest to spend money on staying healthy. Good topic – it gave me a lot of food for thought.
Follow me @#!/writervalerie on Twitter.
Same here, Valerie – but outside of the basic necessities, much of what I spend on the children falls in those 5 categories too.
Roller skates, events, sports, games, clothes, you name it. It adds up, doesnt it?
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
I have quite a bit of wants but don’t normally spend my money on them.
You certainly know a lot about websites. Could you take a peek at mine? I get orders but it is not constant and I feel that my unique custom art has much more potential.
Thanks,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
I have a Website Reviews section at my discussion forum. Feel free to join us there and post your website for review!
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
People spend money to learn new things! Especially in arts, crafts and music.
Great list! I am into the make money niche right now and creating a new niche blog of the entertainment part for the computer technology.
Since we have a local business for computer repair this new niche ties in nicely.
[...] 5 Things People Spend Money On [...]
[...] top 5 things people spend their money on (according to this article) are Love, Beauty, Entertainment, Health, and More Money. They want to look good, live longer, [...]
Lynn, This is a Very Good Article! I must agree with Ryan Street, Most people do spend money on looking good and having a long life as well. Love is another big one that you mentioned. Again Great article!
Thank you, Ron
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I think spending money to make money is considered an investment, and more easily rationalized than other expenses in the want category.
maybe we’ve forgotten one important thing: food. we need to spend money on food to stay alive.
Either want or need people spend more money in one more thing ie on luxury as well as fancy things.
People spend money to buy results, not theories or ideas. No one buys “health” per say, they buy a flat stomach, big biceps, getting rid of an infection or condition, etc.
Likewise, no one buys nutrition supplements – they buy the reuslts they think they’ll get on the supplements. When you show people how they can get the results, they’ll buy. It may seem like a small distinction but it can improve your sales conversion by 100% or more
Follow me @JuiceTom on Twitter.