Young gals find thrift is a gift

Shopaholics are now save-aholics.

The recession has jolted young women into socking away more cash and trying everything in their power to cast off their debts, according to a new survey.

Nearly half of young women, 18 to 39, are saving and investing more than they did a year ago, according to the survey, released by Citi. And more than 60 percent of women in that age range are planning to cut their level of debt within the next six months, the data shows.

The national telephone survey of 2,002 men and women, conducted in March by Hart Research Associates, also found that more than 40 percent of women ages 18-39 said that the economic downturn taught them to value “family, friends and quality of life over material goods.”

Compared to guys, women, regardless of age group, are more conservative about future spending. Women — 72 percent — are more likely than men — 65 percent — to say if they come into extra dough, they would save it or put it toward bills, the survey found.

When it comes to going on a vacation in the next six months, 48 percent of men say they expect to, compared to 43 percent of the women polled.

“Within the last two years, I’ve been living a new life,” said Tenira Forman, 32, of The Bronx. “I had an epiphany not to spend much and to save more . . . I have the urge to shop, but I’m fighting it. I’ve given up electronics, shoes, clothes and home goods.”

The resource manager said she knows many people who lost their jobs.

“Dishes and stemware were my weakness,” Forman admitted. “It was stupid. I’m saving now and helping others more. I have to help my family. I keep my money in my bank account and my 401(k).”

Anthony Sabino, a law professor at the Tobin Business College of St. John’s University, says that younger women have been socked with “a brutal realization that the world can be a financially dangerous place now, and given the age bracket they have been born into the Great Recession.”

“They have seen their parents’ and possibly their grandparents’ life savings decimated by these events, and they realize the people who they look up to and admired and took care of them from tying their shoes to helping them with high school geometry all of a sudden are in the worst situation and a comfortable retirement dashed,” Sabino told The Post.

“These women will devote much more effort to saving their money on the simple pleasures like, ‘Do I need another Starbucks or the hundred-dollar jeans when I can buy a pair for $50. That is an important first step,” Sabino said.

Sabino said that “women are hardwired to save when it comes to protecting their loved ones in hard economic times. It’s a business ramification of the maternal instinct,” he said.

But young women feel they have to be more self-reliant in these dire economic times, said financial planner Eleanore Szymanski.

“They used to be planning for immediate things and retirement is far away for them, but this recent downturn has been a good wakeup call. They are scared they are not going to be taken care of,” said Szymanski of EKS Associates in Princeton, NJ.

Szymanski said she’s seen a 50 percent increase in young women attending her financial planning classes.

“I have seen more college people in this class than ever before. It’s a general feeling, ‘It’s up to me, I am going to take care of myself in this recession,’ ” she told The Post.

But the survey found that women over 40 feel more settled with their finances than their younger counterparts.

Only 49 percent of women over 40 expect to reduce their debt load over the next six months, and 29 percent say that they’ve increased saving and investing since the economy went south.

“The survey found that women over 40 are more comfortable with their current levels of debt and savings than younger women,” said Lisa Caputo, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Citi and chairperson and CEO of Citi’s Women & Co.

“Since women over 40 tend to have higher income and investable assets and are more likely to own their own home, this seems to reflect the financial security and confidence they feel about their financial futures,” Caputo said.

Zoe Steinfeldt, 46, a full-time mom who lives on the East Side, says she’s “saving enough for retirement or catastrophe.”

“It surprises me that young women are saving,” she said. “It seems like that generation is more into ‘I must have it now.’ I’m very surprised that they’re being responsible. It could be the scare in the economy.”

Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton and Lachlan Cartwright

Janine Colon