Instructions: Please check one answer in all cases, unless specified otherwise. Many of the questions in this survey will ask about your "household’s" financial situation. "Household" includes you and others living with you who contribute financially to your home. As you answer these questions, please think about all of your household members’ finances, taken as a whole. If you live alone, or do not consider anyone else to be a member of your household, please answer these questions as an individual.

Participation in the study is completely voluntary and confidential. All the information collected will be used for research purposes only. We thank you for answering our questions.

In the last 6 months, how often were you able to easily predict your household’s income for the following month?

In the last 6 months, which of the following statements best describes how your household’s income varied from month to month, if at all?

My household’s income:

Do you or anyone in your household have a checking account with a bank, credit union, or online banking app? Please select all that apply.

In the past 12 months, how many overdraft fees, if any, have you or anyone in your household been charged?

Does your household use a budget or other type of plan to track and manage your spending?

Do you have at least one credit card?

Have you set aside emergency or rainy day funds that would cover your expenses for 3 months in case of sickness, job loss, economic downturn, or other emergencies?

In the past 12 months, have you or someone in your household used (select all that apply):

Payday loans are small, short-term loans that must be paid in full when the borrowers receive their next pay check or other regular deposit (such as a Social Security payment).

These loans are often paid with a post-dated check. Please select the following statement that best describes your situation regarding these products.

In the past 12 months, have you done any of the following activities on an app or a financial technology service (select all that apply):

Which of the following statements best describes how your household's total spending compared to total income, over the last month?

Which of the following statements best describes how your household has paid its bills over the last month?

My household has been financially able to:

At your current level of spending, how long could you and your household afford to cover expenses, if you had to live only off the money you have readily available, without withdrawing money from retirement accounts or borrowing?

Thinking about your household's longer term financial goals such as saving for a vacation, starting a business, buying or paying off a home, saving up for education, putting money away for retirement, or making retirement funds last.

How confident are you that your household is currently doing what is needed to meet your longer term goals?

Now thinking about all of your household’s current debts, including mortgages, bank loans, student loans, money owed to people, medical debt, past-due bills, and credit card balances that are carried over from prior months.

As of today, which of the following statements describes how manageable your household debt is?

How would you rate your credit score? Your credit score is a number that tells lenders how risky or safe you are as a borrower.

Thinking about all of the types of personal and household insurance you and others in your household have, how confident are you that those insurance policies will provide enough support in case of an emergency?

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

"My household plans ahead financially."

Compared with last year’s holiday season, did your household spend more, less, or about the same on gifts or celebrations?

How much did your household spend on holiday gifts in the last month?

How much did your household spend on holiday celebrations and activities in the last month?

Overall, how would you describe the household finances in the last month, November of 2025? Please write a couple of sentences describing your situation. Below we provide an example of how to answer this question. Please answer based on your own experience.

"I worked less hours this past month, and my income was lower. I also had to fix my car and spent $200 to get it fixed. This was an unexpected expense. This past month we used our credit card to cover for the car expense, but we weren’t able to cover some bills."

The next questions are about your health.

Over the last month, how much stress, if any, did your finances cause you?

How much financial stress, if any, have price increases over the past 12 months caused you and your household?

How would you describe your level of financial stress during the holiday season?

Thinking about your financial stress during the holiday season, does it generally increase, decrease, or stay the same compared with other times of the year?

Do you currently have health insurance (including employer-paid, private, Medicare/Medicaid, Military, Veterans, Indian Health Service, or any other type of medical coverage)?

In the last month, November 2025, was the level of stress you experienced, either low or high, linked to your household financial situation? Explain. Please write a couple of sentences describing your situation. Below we provide an example of how to answer this question. Please answer based on your own experience.

"Last month I was very stressed because I lost my job. I have started looking for jobs, and I am trying to keep a positive attitude. We rely on my income for paying for rent and other stuff in the house and we don’t have savings we could use at the moment. I felt depressed and down a couple of days last month because of our household financial situation."

Could you tell us how interesting or uninteresting you found the questions in this interview?

Do you have any other comments on the survey? Please type these in the box below. (If you have no comments, please click next to complete this survey.)