Last time, households spent or planned to spend a quarter of the check; the rest was parked
Source. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Survey of Consumer Expectations, Liberty Street Economics, “An Update on How Households Are Using Stimulus Checks” (April 7, 2021), table “How Households Use Their Stimulus Checks”. Also: BEA, PCE, via ALFRED. Third-round shares, March 2021 survey.
Method and data
Method. The New York Fed’s third-round shares as published — 24.7% spent or expected to be spent, 41.6% saved, 33.7% toward debt (1,007 respondents, March 2021, who received or expected to receive the payment; planned or actual use) — applied to $1,597.7 billion and to $1,226.4 billion. Spent = $394.6 billion, 1.8% of a year’s consumer spending (PCE, August 2026, annual rate, $22,308.5 billion). In the second round, households put about three-fifths of what they spent on essentials (16 of 26 percent; “necessary daily living expenses”).
| Use | Share (%) | On $1.60T ($bn) | On $1.23T ($bn) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spent or expected to be spent | 24.7 | 394.6 | 302.9 |
| Saved | 41.6 | 664.6 | 510.2 |
| Toward debt | 33.7 | 538.4 | 413.3 |
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Higgins Strategy. “Last time, households spent or planned to spend a quarter of the check; the rest was parked” Exhibit 4, Five Thousand Dollars Each (Study XI). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/11-02-where-it-goes-nyfed-shares/