Gloomy economy changing shoppers' habits

I remember the long gas lines of the 70's and I can hear my dad, cussing and bellowing but warning of further troubles if we don't start conserving and saving. My dad was deeply influenced by the Great Depression. A young boy, he and his brothers had to work long and hard to help their family. They often went without and were often hungry. Some of the things he told us as we grew up were harrowing!
Little things like eating at home, taking leftovers to work and minimizing and combining driving conserves energy and saves you money. Making do with what you have does not always mean doing without! To shop just to shop is a troubling thing... one winds up spending more than they anticipated as well as buying "junk" they do not really need. Making lists and looking at the ads helps to find the best sales; keeping to that list and not being "suckered" into straying from your list is easier than you might think! Eat a snack at home before going out to shop. Leave the kids home or with a friend/babysitter while you shop! There were 7 of us at home and there was no way our parents could take us and get everything home. They also knew that if we saw all of the junk at the stores, we'd put up a hell of a fuss for it. When my kids were little, I would only shop at night after their dad came home. I had a list ready, coupons in hand; we would eat dinner, play with the kids, give them their baths and put them to bed. My husband would clean up around the house while I went shopping. After 9 p.m., there are fewer shoppers and less traffic. I listened to music on the way to the store, get my shopping done and then head home. I felt as if it were a treat and a chance to clear my head!
My kids are grown now but we thought it wiser for them to live at home while they go to college. They both work and contribute to the "house" and they are able to save money to their bank accounts. I still shop at night and only once a week. I hate malls and I never shop at Walmart.... too many people, too expensive on one end and too much plastic junk at the other. Most of my home decor is from my parents home with things bought at yard sales. Thru-out my home, there is something from my Great Grandparents, my Grandparents and various Aunts and Uncles. Every summer, we have a garden.
It is time to start figuring things out for ourselves. Everything is going up in price and jobs are paying less than they are worth. Get used to it...

Consumers change their spending habits? Tell that to the box office last weekend and also the iPhone launch that just happened.

I don't think our frugal mindset is such a bad thing. We Americans have become very apathetic and, really, ungrateful for the blessings we recieve. It's nice to see that people don't seem to be as concerned about the "bigger better" thing. I have two small children and it is hard in our consumer-driven society to also teach them to enjoy and be content with what you've got.

Looking back years later, my husband and I realize we grew up poor but we did not know we were poor. We thought everyone lived like this. I grew on the East side of Detroit and he was from the South side of Chicago. Both our fathers died when we were young. Our mother's worked hard to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. Our only luxury was a new pair of stride rite shoes at Xmas and a new pair of tennies when school started. Everything else was handed down "from someone".
I had three younger siblings. We did not have a car so we walked the 8 blocks to school every day. Many times we would climb neighbor's fences to take short cuts if there was not a barking dog in a yard.
We lived on hamburger meat except on Sundays and that was roasted chicken. Ice Cream was a treat. Soda was a treat. Movies were a very special treat and renting a bike for 50 Cents an hour was as good as it gets. Would I trade those days? Not in a heart beat.
We worked our way though college, found each other in the South, got married, bought a modest home and raised two beautiful children. AND, we still live today very much how we lived long, long ago.
Our home is paid for....cars are paid for and we have a nice nest egg set back for when hubby retires in 2 1/2 years. We then will take our very first "luxury vacation". Our wants are few and this being how we grew up and WE SURVIVED. Can you believe? We survived and are happy!

i find myself using bargain hunting sites like www.searchalldeals.com or pricegrabber.com more these days.

Enough with the so called economy experts and psychologists telling us these are dreary, gloomy, depressing times. Hey, I think these are uplifting and hopeful times. Times that force us to really take stock in the little things, like family and neighbors, flowers and exercise, whole local foods, and less trash and pollution. All these things should make us feel better. Better because this is something that can and will make a difference, something we have the power to do. Doesn't it feel good to forego buying that new dress, but yet, find something in your closet that no-one else has seen and it still looks great! That's the way it should be. A slow economy mostly means that people who make things to sell can't sell as much as they used to sell. I look at that as... well, that's less trash and pollution. I don't want anyone to go without food, clothing or shelter, but I think it is great that we are learning to love what we have not what we don't.

To reply to Rellac---
Don't you remember a little thing called Sept. 11, 2001? That changed everything. All things being equal--and they never are--President Bush would have been good for the economy.

However, I don't think he was the one making bad mortgage loans. And as soon as he withdrew the executive ban on drilling, oil prices dropped like a stone.

I think frugal is the new black. Americans have been obscene consumers for years. (An 11,000 square foot house owned by two investment officers was featured in the local newspaper. Yuk. Makes me sick!) It is time for us to join the rest of the world.

I bought a condo a about two years ago and I am so sorry that I did. I made a bad decision with my eyes wide shut but still I have nobody to blame but myself. If I ever sell this unit I will not be looking for another condo nor will I be looking at town homes or even a single family home. Instead I will only focus on mobile homes or double wides, I have permanently shifted my options to an extremely limited scope and I will never ever consider anything else but to live in a trailer. Screw the economy and screw real estate.

We really don't have any choices any longer, but to become thrifty and survive or get totally annihilated by the politicians pushing these hard economic times on ordinary Americans. It's sad to think that this whole situation was and is preventable, as are so many other things nowadays if they would only start to consider the people not just the special interest groups.

Whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent is certainly your choice. Far be it from me to try to sway your opinion in any direction but I wonder, is there really a difference?

The really sad thing is that they (the parties) to my way of thinking seem to have become so similar that it is becoming impossible to tell them apart. The traditional party distinctions no longer apply having given way to the ultimate goal of power strictly for the sake of power, driven by the rewards obtained from special interests.

This couldn't be more evident than it is right now; the average citizen is seeing their way of life being destroyed while our leaders are too busy blaming each other and protecting their special interest relationships than to do anything to help.

It used to be that in an election year, incumbent political leaders worked hard to make things better for their constituents. This was done so they would retain their political standing. It has all changed now and become a game of stopping the other party from accomplishing anything for the sake of blaming them for all our troubles, at the expense of the average citizen. Let there be no mistake, no matter where you were on the socioeconomic level before, with the recent economic crises run rampant and unchecked by our political heroes, you are worse off now.

Instead of bickering between ourselves as to who is the right candidate, (probably this won't matter anyway) given the way things are, we should be demanding results, not excuses from our leaders. We should demand the removal of all lobbyists from Washington, and a return to a government of the people and for the people, not just those who are rich and influential.

The "energy crises" should sound the alarm for any intelligent person. We are being destroyed financially while our leaders are in gridlock because no solution will yield immediate results. Who cares, let's just get together and do something instead of nothing.

Increase exploration and drilling, absolutely within guidelines.

Alternative sources of energy; sure, it will be that way some day anyway, no time like the present to get started.

Build more nuclear energy plants; why not, the rest of the world is doing it with far less concern for safety than we will exercise.

More Bio-fuel; certainly, there is plenty of land out there to grow whatever we need and lots of farmers (not just global corporations) who would just love to be farming again instead of being paid to leave their land lay fallow. Besides, they will spend their proceeds locally helping support our economy, not some other countries.

An interesting side note: since there seems to be a huge shortage of food globally, why not trade our potentially excess grain (from increased farming) for oil with starving countries?

Better energy management from immediately available technology, youbetcha buckaroo, we have it at our fingertips along with millions of unemployed people who could get right to work installing it.

Wow, what an economic stimulus package that would make; putting people back to work in our country and reducing energy dependence by a multifaceted approach!

The only problem I can see is that there won't be anyone to blame if everyone is doing their part. Our political heroes will need to find a new way to play the game, who knows, maybe they'll start trying to do something for all the people instead of just a few, what a novelty!

I am 35 years old and was raised in a small town here in Ca. I remember my dad working at a lumber mill pulling green chain (very hard work) And the pay was just enough to make ends meet. My Dad's family started out very poor on an Indian reservation.They picked cotton and grapes and my grandfather started to work at the mill. While he was at the mill my grandmother took care of all my aunts and uncles during school time and in the summer they would all live in a two room house provided by the mill. So he had it real hard and we were a little better off. When i was ten we moved out of the mountains to the small town that my grandma stayed with the kids for school.

I remember resenting the fact that all the other kids had Vans and nice shoes and would tease me for my cheap kmart shoes. Then they all got bikes G.T. Redline ect. I asked for one and my dad told me if you want a $200 bike you have to make the money we dont have it. Damm is was mad. But I got a paper route and started saving up. 11years of age I also started to go to the store before school and buy candy Now and laters for a dime a pack take them to school and sell them for a quarter. Well my tips and pay for the route and candy sales bought that bike. And him saying no taught me allot.

I have checked up on some of those kids who used to tease me about the shoes. And they are all still at that little town holding on to their parents purse strings waiting for a handout. I now live in a city where I work for myself set my own hours sell my own stuff and know how to not ask for money even when times are so called hard. Times are hard when you get one pair of shoes to last a whole school year. You have to eat Liver beans and rice for a month to keep the lights on. And all the kids walk to school because gas costs to much.You have one car for a family and you cant afford a bus pass. Thank god its not that bad yet. But very soon it could be.

The crazy thing is We have enough of everything here in the U.S. but we still pay three times as much for NEW why? I sell at flea markets and online used stuff that I pick up from yard sales and estates. Great quality some clothes new with tags never worn. It astounds me. If I can sell the same fan you would pay $40 bucks for new. But the one I have, I ask $20 with no box. Allot of people will go buy the $40 one. Not me that box isnt worth $20 It is the same. As it is with most everything. Stop sending the money to china and spend it at your local yard sale. So your nieghbor can pay his motgage and car payment. Instead of China getting richer. I use craigslist to give people here in sacramento deals or at least try ..

Am an American Indian - never had it good. We always had a vegie garden, shopped Goodwill/St. Vincent
Most Americans are freaked at how they can get along. My father was a white man and lived through depression. He was 'way ahead on the environment - thank goodness for that. He picked up coal to help warm his family (6 kids, my grandmother a widow) along the train tracks. He taught me how to clean a deer, a pig, how to store potatoes, and so on, even though I thought it was funky at the time.
On the rez, my great-grandfather had a farm. Before most of the tribe migrated to shopping at markets, many on the rez got their meat and vegies from him. My mother, even after we moved to SFBay Area, made sure all of us 5 kids knew how to cook from scratch - she knew hard times. So my "dis-advantaged" childhood is becoming an asset. Learn from those elders!

I've always had to be very frugal because most of the jobs I had early in my working life didn't pay much. My parents had all sorts of Depression-era stories, and my mother would do things that I thought were peculiar, such as saving produce bags and twist ties and Christmas wrapping paper, but I appreciate those odd traits of hers much more now than I used to. At the same time, while my parents didn't have huge incomes, we always had a garden, we raised chickens, my folks did canning and freezing, and they had secondhand furniture that we called "early attic" -- now it's antique. My mom saved bacon drippings and pan drippings from chicken and beef to cook with later. I earned my allowance by cooking dinner after school with leftovers from Sunday dinner. My father thought TV was trash; we didn't get a TV until 1962. My two grandmothers bought each of us 3 kids school clothes, and my sister and I took our mom's old treadle sewing machine and sewed what we couldn't buy. We might have been financially poor, but we weren't poor in any other way because we always had good food, clean clothes, a decent house to live in, and books and toys that stimulated our creativity. The most pleasant memories I have are those of sitting on the front porch swing in the evenings with my mom and brother and talking about things that mattered to us. I think we were better off then, in many ways, than people are now, because the focus was less on money and more on how to get the most out of what you had. The "disposable society" mentality came out of the late 1980s and early 1990s. There is no harm, and plenty of good to be gained, in learning to be more careful with our resources of every kind. I think this may become a good experience for a lot of people.

I don't think people will return to their earlier shopping habits "when the economy improves next year" because a very large part of this shopping spree the country has been on has been financed with 'free' money from home-equity withdrawals. That's going away and it isn't coming back. Now we have to pay off all that debt and the only way a lot of people will 'pay it off' will be to default on it.

So -- how much shopping can people do with their paychecks? Unless wages go up dramatically, a lot of people will never again have the purchasing power they had during this bubble that has now burst. It was artificial wealth, it was unsustainable, and now we have not only economic reality to get used to, but we have the reality of higher oil and food prices due to 6 billion people on the planet all trying to adopt the Western lifestyle. Next crisis? Water.

I wish someone would knock some sense into my kids (and I suspect much of their generation) My finances fluctuated wildly since I was a kid- lived well till my dad dropped dead,good when I was single,was poor first years of marriage then very comfortable, struggling since my husband left and I had cancer.
My kids spend like there is no tomorrow, buy buy buy. When dinner won't be ready in 5 minutes they get take out.
I suspect we will have tough times as a nation for some time and I know how to be frugal.
I now live poor in part because of a job I love 95% of the time and my live in 20 somethings keep telling me I need to find more profitable work.Funny thing is I've always manage. I'm getting less afraid as time goes on even though the economy looks bad. I don't know what my kids will do if they loose their good paying jobs.

You can bet the politicians that run this country are not frugal with our tax money....Free trips around the world, raise taxes to give benefits to Illegal aliens.. Who is paying those taxes?? Not Illegals that's for sure...

I've learned my lesson..and the hard way...and will continue to be more careful with my finance....I've ridden the bus sytem here in los angeles for the past 10 years...yup...I have not owned a car in 10 years....and it does make a differece...it also has its pros and cons....I am planning to buy a car but guess what...I will be buying a compact car...either Toyota or Honda....I will continue buying a lot of the paper goods at the 99 cents store...no more Costco for me....No more eating out....I wil go to the movies only when I'm able to go to the matinee....and forget about buying those $5 hot dogs...oh lord...it's disgusting how the movie folks stick it to the consumer.....and as far as the public transportation aka MTA in los angeles....it's just incredible the level of disservice and uncaring attitude they have for the thousands of angelinos using their buses.....overcrowded buses...tardiness...bad attitude to the passengers.....no clue on how to give directions for other bus lines....et..etc...etc....anywho.....the way to go it's to watch your spending very closely....and stop using your credit cards.....

I find myself part of the generation that has somehow managed to contribute to the chaos and social dis-ease we find ourselves in today. I grew up in a Florida suburb in a Reagan-era mentality and times were great. I wanted for nothing, yet my depression era parents warned of ill-times ahead. My generation has somehow managed to be the worst sort of confrontational, my-kid-can-do-no-wrong parents that spoil their little darlings to extreme and excess...and they never miss an opportunity to treat themselves either...devil-may-care attitudes. I'm not sure if it was the 9-11 terror attacks that just instilled post traumatic stress disorder into all of us and it has become get and do what you want to because it can all be gone tomorrow mentality or what...I can't seem to get a lock on it all. It may be that we all see the retarded government spending like we got it so why not us too? The government, the president (excuse me while I wretch), the administration and every other politico suffers no consequences to corruption, lies and overspending so why should we worry? I have no answers...I really don't. But from now on...I think I'll max out my credit cards too....and wait for the Feds to bail me out too....

Yea survive is right i am a Cashier my hours are down to 15 hours can not find a second job to save my soul i make 705 an hour you do the math i am living on credit at this point yea this is sure the America dream that this SOB painted eight years ago i can least say i did not vote for him
the only that have got rich is the Oil company's and Halliburton o buy the way Cheney's says he receive no money from wink

I don't understand this so-called recent shift to frugality. It is now trendy to limit discretionary spending, downsize homes and cars, and generally live within or below your means. I have been doing these things out of necessity for all of my adult life. Three years ago, my husband and I were hardworking yet perpetually broke. This was at the height of the real estate boom when it seemed everyone had money to burn. People ridiculed us for not owning our own home and now those same people have been foreclosed on. Now that we have stable jobs and consistently sufficient income, the economy is in the dumps. We are thankful that our efforts are paying off but I remain confused as to why watching your money is now all over the media. Where was all this coverage when we were struggling? Everything in the media shouted "spend, buy a home, etc". I guess not everyone had the financial means that they appeared to.

carisi said
"and forget about buying those $5 hot dogs...oh lord...it's disgusting how the movie folks stick it to the consumer"

Maybe if we went back to just being citizens and stopped being 'consumers' things would change. We could judge our quality of life by something besides the size of our house or car.

Humans are herd animals -- if we see the Jones worshipping the almighty dollar, we start to think we're weird for not doing it too. But if enough people say 'No Mas!' and stick to their convictions that life is about more than just working and spending, others will follow.

Hello All.. my mind drifts back to the mid 90s...everybody was living large,,why,,the DEMOCRATS were in power. lets not forget how we got here people .. reading stories like this,,,,if you believe things are BAD ,,and everybody goes with it ,,then they will be. On that day in November,,when we elect Mr. Obama ..things will change. ...The media will play a care free song ...and we will find the money some where to make it happen,,,,So until then Keep your pocket books closed ...your kids hungry .and crying the blues in stories like this one ...PITIFUL SHEEP >>>

Perhaps the following info will surprise some of you. It comes from Professor Schiller, an economist.

The Census Bureau tells us is that the share of the pie consumed by the poor has been shrinking (to 3.4% in 2006 from 4.1% in 1970). But the "pie" has grown enormously. This year's (2006) real GDP of $14 trillion is three times that of 1970. So the absolute size of the slice received by the bottom 20% has increased to $476 billion from $181 billion. Allowing for population growth shows that the average income of people at the bottom of the income distribution has risen 36%. They're not rich, but they're certainly not poorer. In reality, economic growth has raised incomes across the board.

Just since 2000, GDP has risen by 18% while the population has grown by 6%. So per capita incomes have clearly been rising. Some people would have you believe that all of this added income was funneled to the rich. But the math doesn't work out. The increase in nominal GDP since 2000 amounts to over $4 trillion annually. If you assume that all that money went to the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households, that bonanza would come to a whopping $350,000 per household. Yet according to the Census Bureau, the top 10% of households has an average income of $200,000 or so. The implied bonanza is so absurd that the notion that only the rich have gained from the economic growth can be dismissed out of hand.

Another hardship brought to you by the Republican Party

The economy was fine until we got a Democrat Congress. But it's always that way. Eventually we will get a Republican Congress again and the economy will be fine. Don't worry about it, too much.

all this is not new to me, i've been living like this my whole life. buying store brand groceries, spending cautiously, and driving a 4 cylinder ranger pickup. i've had too. i dont have to worry about making any changes