According to Americans, they really enjoy saving money instead of spending it to buy more stuff.

Going out and shopping for additional belongings is a turn-off, they say. They claim that stashing away money is their preferred, pleasing habit (59%) and a much more enjoyable one than that yucky past-time of spending money (38%).

This from a new Gallup Poll:

Continuing a trend that took hold during the recession, Americans remain much more likely to describe themselves as the type of person who enjoys saving money rather than spending it.

Until 2009 or so, Americans were about evenly split between their professed devotion to saving versus spending.

Last year nearly two-out-of-three Americans (65%) said they really enjoy saving and only a third (33%) said they enjoyed spending. Uh-huh.

This year things have changed a little, Gallup finds. The I-really-enjoy-saving sector slipped down slightly to 59% while the oh-boy-spending-is-fun gang increased a little to 38%. That narrowed the saving-spending gap to 21 points, the smallest in five years. Gallup added:

Regardless of whether this is the beginning of a trend or a one-year fluctuation, the clear majority of U.S. adults still view themselves as people for whom saving money is more enjoyable than spending money.

In recent months, Americans’ joy in saving has eased a tad, which could be a good sign for the economy, except it hasn’t been — yet. But Americans hasten to add that saving is what they really enjoy and is their “new normal” for years to come.

Likewise, the Americans who admit joy in spending more recently hasten to add that it’s only a temporary phenomenon in their spending patterns, you understand. They’ll get back to the joy of saving real soon. Count on it.

Eighty-five percent of Americans last month told Gallup they are watching their spending “very closely.” While spending more.

Americans viscerally hate hypocrisy in their politicians. Hypocrisy in the mirror, however, is something else entirely, see. It’s understandable and only temporary.

But wait! There’s more! Such blatant misleading of ourselves does have interesting commercial consequences.

For instance, savings hypocrisy makes American shoppers who say they really truly love saving intensely susceptible to retail sales. Half off! BOGO — Buy one, Get one. Blowout sale. Half price today only.

Any come-on that suggests the price they’re about to pay is below the regular retail price helps guilty Americans feel that while they shouldn’t really be enjoying the act of purchasing, it’s actually not so bad because in reality, see, they are saving money by spending.

In fact, as a reward for reading this post to the very end, you may now re-read and share it with an unlimited number of friends at absolutely no additional charge. You’re welcome.