Do you ever wonder how other people’s spending compares to yours? So do we! We took a look at how much Brigit users spent on common categories in 2024, and there were some things that surprised us.
TL;DR
Just want the highlights of Brigit users’ spending in 2024?
- They spent an average of $78.74 on fitness memberships each month.
- Fast Food was one of the categories where they spent a lot; that total was $4.5 billion for the year, and McDonald’s is the top choice of over 64% of them.
- 49% of Brigit users frequent Starbucks. They spent an average of $13.20 each time they went in 2024, and totaled $48.28 each month.
- Brigit users’ biggest spend category for entertainment is TVs and movies; in 2024 they spent over $1.2 billion on streaming. Netflix and Amazon Prime were the streamers on which they spent the most.
- Of the $3 billion Brigit users spent on travel in 2024, $743 million went toward flights, and over $601 million to lodging.
- Brigit users’ general spending in 2024 was over $13.5 billion. The store where they spent the most money (by far) was Walmart (47%), with Apple coming in a distant second at 27%.
Gym memberships
Brigit users are getting their workout on, and they’re spending an average of $78.74 each month on fitness memberships. We know exercise is an excellent way to boost your mental and physical health, helping you to be more productive and happier, and likely saving you healthcare costs in the long run. So your health is always a solid investment.
But we’re going to say the quiet part out loud: just belonging to a gym or health club doesn’t make you healthier. That’s right, you have to actually go! If not, you’re not getting any of those valuable health benefits, and you’re basically throwing away that $78.74 each month. None of us can afford to waste money like that!
Here are a few questions to ask yourself, to make sure you’re really getting your money’s worth for your gym membership.
Are you using it enough to justify the cost?
Here’s the obvious one—are you actually getting the potential benefits that you’re paying for? According to Gymdesk (gym management software that tracks member attendance), 21% of people who have fitness memberships go almost daily—well done! 💪That’s an average cost of about $2.60 – $3.00 per visit, which is definitely justifiable.
38% of people multiple times each week, which is still a solid use of fitness funds.
15% of gym members go once a week… and that’s an average cost of $20 per visit. Which is better than nothing, but not really enough to have significant health impact. You’ll get more fitness benefits and better value for your money if you go more often than once a week.
And then there’s the 18% of people who had the best of intentions when they signed up for their gym membership, but… they never go at all. That’s just money down the drain, so it’s costing you the $78.74, and it’s costing you the health benefits you’re leaving on the table by not exercising.
How can you save money on a gym membership?
One thing to remember about gyms and fitness clubs is that there are plenty of them, and most have fees that you can negotiate. Here are some tips on how to save on gym memberships.
How can you make sure you’re getting your money’s worth?
If you’re not using your gym membership enough to justify it, don’t just give up and cancel it. Find a way to make sure you are using it enough to make it worthwhile. Making a plan can help:
- Book it: to make sure you use your membership enough, it can be helpful to schedule time in your calendar each day, or several days a week. Commit to it the way you would to work meetings or time with your family and friends.
- Incentivize yourself: working toward better health and fitness, and the endorphin rush are rewards all on their own… but it can also be very motivating to set goals and treat yourself when you reach them. Not expensive treats, of course, since we’re trying to be cost-conscious here, but something you enjoy.
Maybe it’s a splurge like an ice cream cone after you finish that 5-mile run on the treadmill, or going to see a movie after you survive that 45-minute aerobics class. Whatever makes you happy, and will give you something to focus on whenever you want to quit, should be the reward you work toward. You can check out apps like Habitica for added motivation like accountability (from other users), incentives, and even punishments if that’s more helpful!
- Get a workout buddy: One of the most powerful motivators to exercise is accountability. And there’s no better form of that than someone else who’s counting on you. Half the battle is just getting to the gym—because it’s really easy, when you’re tired after a long day at work, to just go home and binge watch the Bachelor instead of heading to the gym. But when someone is waiting to meet you there, it’s a different story. You don’t want to flake, and let them down, so you’re a lot less likely to blow it off than if it’s just you.
Fast Food
At the other end of the health spectrum from the gym, we have fast food. It’s generally not very good for you, but no judgment—we know it’s convenient, and can seem like an affordable option. And that’s totally okay, in moderation. But you might be surprised how much it can really add up; it’s often not as cheap as you think.
Brigit users, like most of the United States, love their fast food fixes. No joke—they spent nearly $4.5 billion (yes, billion with a ‘b’) on fast food in 2024! 🤯 And Americans overall (in 2023) spent a whopping $349 billion on fast food. Yikes. To put that in perspective, that’s enough money to fund 84+ years’ worth of cardiovascular and obesity research at the National Institutes of Health.
What are Brigit users’ drive-thrus of choice?
- McDonald’s is far and away the winner, with 64.84% saying ‘I’m lovin’ it’.
- 43.22% of Brigit users prefer to make a run for the border, spending their fast food dollars at Taco Bell.
- Every day except Sunday, 35.40% of Brigit users like to flock to Chic-Fil-A.
- 30.25% of Brigit users like to head to Subway to Eat Fresh (but not necessarily heathy) for a footlong lunch or dinner.
- The colonel at KFC gets 23.20% of the love when it comes to Brigit users’ fast food affinity.
Some Brigit users also enjoy Sonic, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr, and Wendy’s, but they don’t spend as much as the top 5 mentioned above.
How can you save money on fast food?
The obvious answer is: eat less of it. Because yes, we all know it’s not the healthiest way to take in calories. And it’s also not as cheap as we tend to think it is.
But there are ways to save: many fast food restaurants have apps with special deals, and some have lower prices at certain times of day. Many, like McDonald’s, have value menus like their Dollar Menu with special pricing on specific items. And of course, there are the meal deals, where you can save by combining your sandwich, drinks, and fries, for example. Try to keep an eye out for those deals, so you can keep your fast food spending under control.
Groceries
Buying groceries is usually a healthier option than fast food, but it seems like trips to the store are getting more and more expensive all the time. The average Brigit user spends $425.95 each month at the grocery store. (Keep in mind that In many cases, that’s food for more than one person—often a couple or even a whole family.)
Brigit users spend an average of $35.50 each time they hit the market, and the grocery stores they frequent are:
Kroger 22%
Publix 16%
Food Lion 11%
Safeway 10.3%
H-E-B 10%
Fun fact: the items Brigit users spend the most on are dairy products, like milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs.
How can you save money on groceries?
Even as grocery prices keep rising, there are a number of ways you can save—everything from making a grocery budget to considering generic options instead of name brand. You can get more details and learn about other ways to get better prices in our article, How to save at the grocery store.
Coffee
One of the areas where Brigit users spend the most is, not surprisingly, coffee runs. Most of us depend on that jolt of caffeine, whether it’s OG straight-up coffee, a cappuccino, or something fancy like a half-caf caramel frappuccino. It’s a daily ritual that might not seem that expensive, but it actually adds up to a tidy sum for most users: they drop $12.10 on the average coffee run. So if they’re going each weekday, that’s over $60 each week, $240 per month, and $2,880 a year. That’s a lot of cash!
What are Brigit users’ top caffeination stations?
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Starbucks is where Brigit users spend the most money. 49% of them go there for their coffee; they spend an average of $13.20 per trip, and $48.28 each month.
Dunkin’ is the #2 most frequented spot for Brigit users (40%), followed by Dutch Brothers (6%), and then Scooters (2%).
How can you save money on coffee?
Get this—if you skip just one coffee trip each week, you can save around $600 in a year! And that doesn’t mean you have to go uncaffeinated—we’d never wish that on anyone—it just means finding an alternative. And guess what? It’s pretty easy to make most of your favorite drinks at home! Check out our guide on Starbucks drinks to DIY. If you do that one or more days a week, the savings can really add up!
Entertainment
When Brigit users aren’t swilling Starbucks drinks or going on grocery or fast food runs, they’re usually doing something fun—like bingeing Netflix shows, streaming music, or playing video games. And Brigit users do know how to have fun; in 2024 they spent over a billion dollars on entertainment!
Where do Brigit users spend the most on entertainment?
- TV & movies
When it’s time to unwind, Brigit users enjoy a good Netflix and chill… (or at least the Netflix part!). They spent just under $1.2 billion on TV and movies, with Netflix (24.4% of transactions) and Amazon Prime Video (23.6%) almost tied for the top spot where our users spent the most. They were followed by Hulu (13.7%) and Peacock (10%).
- Video games
There’s no better way to de-stress than playing some Mario Kart or Grand Theft Auto! Gaming is popular with Brigit users, and they spend over $841 million on video games in 2024. The most popular platform? Playstation, with over 42% of the transactions. XBOX trailed by more than we would’ve guessed (15%), followed by Steam (10%).
- Music
Brigit users like to get their groove on! In 2024, they spent over $259 million on streaming services. The top service was Spotify, and it had over 50% of the spend, followed by SiriusXM satellite radio (16%), and Amazon music (11.3%).
How can you save on entertainment?
Now that most of us get our music, TV and movies, and video games through digital channels—often with subscriptions—it can be easy to spend more than you realize.
Be sure to keep track of which subscriptions you have, and make sure you’re using them. Unused subscriptions can add up to a lot of money that you could be saving or spending on services you are using.
Travel
Everyone needs to get away from it all every once in a while, and Brigit users are no exception. In 2024, they spent nearly $3 billion on travel. More than $743 million of that was on flights, and over $601 million was on lodging. (The rest was on things like rental cars and other transportation.)
Which airlines do Brigit users fly most?
When they travel by air, Brigit users like to fly the friendly skies—United Airlines tops the list with almost 16% of the airfare transactions. Close behind are American, nearly tied at about 13% each. Also in a dead heat are the next two most booked airlines, Delta and Southwest, with just under 9% each.
Where do they like to stay?
Airbnb is the runaway favorite, with 26% of lodging transactions going to the vacation rental marketplace (VRBO didn’t even make the list!). Going back to more traditional hotels, Bally’s came in second, with almost 15% of lodging transactions, followed by Marriott and Holiday Inn, which each took about 11% of those lodging dollars.
All the rest—general merchandise
Beyond food, coffee, the gym, and entertainment, Brigit users do some solid spending on all-around shopping. They spent about $13.5 billion in 2024.
Everyday items like clothes, shoes, furniture, pet supplies, electronics account for an average of $49.44 each month.
Where do Brigit users shop most often?
When it comes to shopping, Walmart is by far the (super)store of choice, with over 47% of the transactions. After that, it’s Apple, with almost 27%. Target trails Apple with 11%, and far below that it’s Microsoft, with under 4%.
When do they drop the most cash?
You might guess it would be the holidays—maybe November and December—when Brigit users spend the most. (We totally guessed that.) But as it turns out, the months with the highest transaction volume are February and March (And February is a short month!). Brigit users averaged $501 for February and March.
Brigit is not affiliated or partnered with any brands or companies mentioned in this article.
