It may not come as a surprise to many Alaskans, but a new survey of 750 Permanent Fund Dividend recipients reveals that Alaskans favorite thing to do with their PFDs is spend them.
Research firm Northern Economics announced Monday that 40 percent of Alaskans reported spending the entirety of their PFDs, compared with just over 20 percent that said they planned to save all of their annual checks. Other categories included "spend most, save some," and "save most, spend some." People began receiving this year's payment of $1,174 on Oct. 6.
Taken as a whole, about 53 percent of respondents reported that they would spend all or most of their PFD, compared with 40 percent who said they would save all or most of it. Six percent reported being unsure how they planned to use the annual windfall payment.
While the spending-versus-saving numbers don't seem particularly frugal of the respondents, many of those polled -- more than 69 percent -- who planned to spend any of the money reported that it would go toward paying bills. The other 30 percent mostly reported using the cash for "new purchases" -- which ostensibly include down payments on vehicles, airline tickets, big screen TVs and the other shopping sprees that seem to become endemic in Alaska around the time PFDs come out.