Crisis hones the art of belt-tightening

Published on 6 May 2013 at 14:26

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Buying second-hand clothing, exchanging services with neighbours, car-pooling or even going on holiday in a group are just some of the new habits taken up by those "Slovaks who have not been broken by the crisis, but who have learned to live with it", headlines Pravda. The daily looks into the change in people's behaviour caused by an enduring economic crisis, in a country where making ends meet evokes the poverty of the socialist period. And so, notes a sociologist in the columns of Pravda,

even though they may have a “draft in their wallets”, some people continue to buy brands, as they need to show that they can afford them. But more and more people think differently: [...] 'Alternative consumption' is becoming more frequent, though it remains a much less common trend in Slovakia than in the richer countries of western Europe because of the socialist past.

The privileged tool of bargain-hunting Slovaks is the Internet, which lets them compare prices and hunt down discount sites. As a shopper tells the journal –

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We go to the hairdressers, the beauticians or on holiday only with discount coupons. We buy tyres, renovate apartments or wash the windows through discount sites. That helps save a few hundred euros every year.

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