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46 THE STATE OF AMERICANS' CREDIT According to the latest Invest in You Survey conducted by CNBC and Acorns in Partnership with SurveyMonkey, Americans are rethinking their spending habits. Specifically, the survey shows that all across the nation, residents are tightening their purse strings and focusing on saving versus spending in every area, including their mortgage and rental payments. Following the national survey's in-depth analysis of both the saving and spending behaviors of more than 5,400 Americans (aged 18 and over), it was revealed that a whopping 60% of Americans reported really watching their budgets, specifically stating that they are saving more now than they were last year. is cautiousness regarding spending makes sense in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has understandably left many residents to completely reevaluate and revamp their financial planning, including goals for retirement and even setting aside funds to cover their children's future needs, such as college and more. e survey not only revealed how many Americans are curbing spending and saving more, but it also dug further to unveil how they are attempting to do so— methods which definitely include rethinking their mortgage and rent payments. Highlights from the survey included the fact that this reported 60% of Americans (self-professed "savers") shows an increase of 6% from last year's percentage. Among those surveyed, 46% percent claim to be much more focused on saving—and saving far more—than they were pre-pandemic. Along this vein, 49% of survey respondents admit that the amounts they spend each month have gone down markedly throughout this year amid the pandemic, with 53% of these same respondents directly crediting concern about COVID-19 and the resulting depressed economy as the reason why they are really tightening up and being more careful with the budget. Another 26% of these same respondents instead pointed directly to the fact that they are bringing home less in their paychecks each month for why they are spending less. e findings go on to reveal that Americans have not only had to spend less, but many have had to tap into savings (14% of Americans say they have wiped out their emergency savings altogether post-pandemic). Another 11% admit to having had to borrow money just to make ends meet, with 10% claiming to have gone to such extremes as withdrawing funds from retirement accounts and even asking for mortgage or rent reprieves. Journal