How to beach on a budget

NPR.

It has been a hard summer for our nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve.

Right?

The president has been on the attack, calling the Fed chair Jay Powell a numbskull.

It's a quote.

And the White House is looking into a remodel of the Fed's historic headquarters, which ran over budget.

I wouldn't blame the staff for for wanting to take a vacation right now, but they're clearly still hard at work.

Last week, right on schedule, the Federal Reserve published the summary of commentary on current economic conditions.

Better known as the Beige book.

And so, if the Fed can work through the noise and do their job, we can work through the noise and do our job.

Which is to read the Beige book cover to cover and find stuff we think is provocative, informative, and even a little bit funny.

You gotta gotta keep that sense of humor.

The Beige Awards, our eight times a year salute to the art and science of telling stories about the economy.

I'm Robert Smith.

And I'm Adrienne Ma.

The most recent Beige book shows Americans are finding ways to spend less money, including on their vacations.

On today's show, you might just learn a few tricks to do holidays on the cheap.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Wait, who said that?

After the break.

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I always like to remind everyone how this award show works.

There are 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System.

Each one studies their local economy and writes stories about it in the Beige book.

We give awards to the best ones.

The first runner-up comes from the Minneapolis Fed.

They were writing about signs that perhaps consumers are stretched thin.

I'll read it.

Quote, a Montana salon owner reported that customers were extending time between haircuts.

I will admit, Adrian, I have done that sometimes.

I didn't want to say anything, but I have noticed, Robert.

A little shaggy.

This could be a new indicator for us to measure economic stress.

You know, how shaggy are people getting?

Are hat sales going up as people save money on haircuts?

Everything can be an indicator if you look hard enough.

That's right, but not every indicator can win the big prize today.

The envelope, please.

And the Beige goes to

the Philadelphia Fed.

Coming to the stage is, um,

um, I didn't, I don't see anyone coming to the stage.

Uh, again,

the the Philadelphia Fed.

Uh, Adrian, I'm getting a note here.

The Philadelphia Fed can't make it.

Can we cut the music?

Robert, what do we do right now?

This has never happened before.

We got to go get the rule book.

Okay, I'll be right back.

Okay, while Adrian gets the official rules, I will read you part of Philadelphia's winning entry.

The Philly district, you should know, includes New Jersey, and they see some signs that consumers traveling there are getting a little tight on money.

Here's the quote.

Contacts reported high traffic counts at the Jersey Shore, Delaware beaches, and Poconos, but noted weaker hotel demand and lower spending by travelers.

Contacts explained that people were looking for ways to save, such as waiting for discounts and preferring short-term rentals that offered space to prepare meals in an effort to eat out less.

This book is heavy.

Page 497, I think.

Here we go.

Oh, okay.

If a regional Federal Reserve Bank cannot accept the award, it must be given to the...

the most famous person from that city.

So, I guess in this case, what is that?

Taylor Swift?

Yeah, slightly different part of Pennsylvania, I think.

What about Will Smith, the fresh prince?

He moved to California.

Huh.

Philadelphia, famous.

Got it.

Got it.

I know the perfect guy.

Robert, my name is Dr.

Benjamin Franklin, and you may call me Ben.

And just to make this clear, you are in Philadelphia as we speak.

I am in Philadelphia, though I have traveled back and forth across the ocean.

I am currently in Philadelphia.

Just to make this clear, this is Mitchell Kramer, who's a Ben Franklin impersonator.

He gives tours around the city and even officiates weddings.

Mitchell agreed to accept the Beigie Award in character, and so we're talking now to Benjamin Franklin, the founding father.

He lectured us a little bit on the importance of thrift in our lives.

One must remember that by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Of course.

And so the most important thing is to protect one's money.

Were you personally thrifty or did you enjoy your wealth when you went on vacation?

Oh, that's a very good question.

I tried very hard to live as a thrifty person.

And because by my nature, I am not thrifty,

I created some sort of tricks.

One was to forego meat and become a vegetarian in order to save money to spend it on things that I thought were more valuable, like books.

I know that you, Ben Franklin, were a big swimmer.

Our winning beige book entry is about the beach.

When you went swimming, did you wear one of those, I picture like the striped Unitard bathing suits?

I don't mean to shock you, but we swim as God intended us.

I have never been ashamed of the natural form.

Letting it all hang out.

I love it.

I wanted to present you with this Beige Award on behalf.

of the Philadelphia Fed.

You are the most famous person we could think of in Philadelphia.

You could think of.

Thank you for that caveat.

We worked on it for a while.

So the Philadelphia Fed won for its Beigebook entry about people finding ways to save money at the beach.

Eating out less, waiting for discounts.

Perhaps, Robert, you could say they were just living the Ben Franklin lifestyle with more clothes, I imagine.

Only one way to find out, Adrian.

It is a blue sky Sunday at Long Branch, New Jersey.

It is perfect.

As the Beigebook noted, you can see some signs of lower spending.

I see a lot of empty lounge chairs.

Those are the ones you have to pay for.

The cheapskates are on towels with boxes of Costco pizza and homemade snacks.

Rod Majid brought his family here on the train from Newark and plans on spending almost nothing today.

Cook your own food at home, bring coolers, and you'll be good.

What's on the menu today?

All right, we got fried chicken in my cooler.

We got sweet tea and we have macaroni and tuna salad.

He had his kids with him and he says the big secret is keeping them away from the boardwalk and all those expensive ice cream stands.

They already know how we do it.

Everything is right here.

He don't need to go nowhere else.

Rod says he's always frugal, but with prices so high, he is prioritizing his spending now.

Little things like this, I make sure we keep it in budget.

So when we go on big vacations, I have enough.

Up on the boardwalk, there are plenty of temptations.

The Aperol Spritzes are flowing.

the carousel is ready.

Come on down, my friends.

My name is Alex Coulis, and we're here at Art Ascent at Pier Village in Long Branch.

We sell scented candles.

Alex and his mom used to work in the fragrance industry, but for the last few years, they've been building their small business that creates custom candle scents paired with unique artworks.

Alex says he has noticed it's been a bit slower lately, at least on Sundays.

We've certainly seen people walking by with a bit, you know, more lunch boxes than usual.

There is definitely an air of we want to spend less money.

Have you figured out what makes for a good day for candles and what makes for a bad day here at the beach?

Interesting question.

It's very difficult to find trends.

There's a small group that's walking by our table right now and they're walking by.

Is that because they're worried about their wallets?

We don't know.

So all we can do is the best we can.

I will say, if you have to have a slow day at work, There is no better place than looking out at the water on the Jersey shore.

Okay, now, Robert, you're just rubbing it in.

You will get the assignment next time, Adrian, I promise.

Yeah, yeah.

If our listeners are still looking for a good vacation option for this summer, I have a suggestion.

Come see Planet Money Live in Brooklyn on August 18th at the Bellhouse.

There will be storytelling, a tribute to unsung economic heroes, and a trivia contest to crown a valedictorian of Planet Money Summer School.

Click the link in the show notes to get tickets.

That's Monday, August 18th at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn.

Planet Money Plus supporters get 10% off.

This episode was produced by Corey Bridges and engineered by Single Afredo.

It was backed up by Julia Ritchie.

Keikin Kennedy is our editor and indicators for production of NPR.

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