It appears that the nearly one hundred sixty million coronavirus stimulus checks disbursed to Americans over the past month are being tapped into for basic everyday needs.

According to a new survey conducted by Bankrate, the data pointed to the fact that the majority of the stimulus money continues to be spent on groceries, rent, mortgage, and other monthly bills. Paying off outstanding debt is also high on the list.

Only a small number of Americans are planning to invest those funds or donate them to charity—11 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

In what could signal short-term trouble for the full reopening of the U.S. economy, only 13 percent of Americans anticipate using their stimulus checks for discretionary purchases, such as eating at restaurants and taking a vacation.

“For all the talk of revenge spending and pent-up demand for travel, you wouldn’t know it by seeing just 13 percent of stimulus check recipients indicating that any of the money would be spent on discretionary activities or nonessential items,” Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst, said in a statement.

“Stimulus continues to be a bit of a misnomer, with households predominantly using the money to pay monthly bills and provide day-to-day essentials. Even households with those bases covered are opting to pay down debt and boost savings—prudent decisions that lead to more sustained spending in the future,” he added.

The poll further revealed that the stimulus payments would only amount to a short-term answer for Americans amid the ongoing pandemic, as more than six in ten adults admit the checks “won’t sustain their financial well-being for more than three months.”

Others are mired in an even more dire situation. A shade over 20 percent of Americans acknowledged that the stimulus funds won’t last a full month and another 14 percent said the cash won’t improve their current finances at all.

Other recently released data seem to be consistent with Bankrate’s findings. According to research from the financial services firm TransUnion, four in ten Americans are still continuing to experience a loss of income compared to before the pandemic.

“38 percent of U.S. consumers said their household income remains negatively impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … While 5 percent of the population has thrived during the pandemic—reporting no income drop and better than planned finances—another 3 percent are devastated by reduced income and don’t think they’ll ever recover,” the report wrote.

It also found that those who are most negatively affected by the pandemic will use the cash for basic living expenses, such as groceries, utilities, and the mortgage or rent. Roughly one in five adults are “in limbo,” which TransUnion defines as those who have lost income and are unsure how their finances will recover—if at all. 

And according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly eighteen million adults are still regularly going hungry, a figure that is still considerably higher compared to before the start of the pandemic more than a year ago.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.