It happen to the most intelligent people that during recession with resources diminishing you could be tempted to use or even over use your credit card and run up a huge bill that's out of your reach. Soon it could really so bad that you would be thinking why did you even use your credit card in the place. Brande Free Credit Report

I deeply enjoyed your movie as well as the article you have written up here. I worked on a Tractor so far and I recently managed to acquire a holiday so I will start to read your website move often because I really enjoy your subjects.

well being a mom of 4 and a step mom of 2,(who live out of state for the time being) and a stay at home mom ontop of it all, we dont really have the luxury of having somebody mow our lawn, or clean our house... sometimes we dont even have the luxury of buying the name brand food. My husband pays his ex wife waaaaaay too much in child support and it eats a whole in our pocket. Daycare would even be a luxury for me at this point. but over 400 a week is no where near a budget we are able to manage! some of the things we cut are shopping, unless for food. we moved into town to save gas.. whereas we were living 25 miles from town(one way) where my husband works and kids go to school! we dont visit the step kids out of state. Our children who are of a very young age wear hand me down and resale store clothes. name brand for less. who cares they are kids. we keep our a/c on 75.. open windows during the day. we dont go out to eat... but we do have the internet for my husband to play xbox and me to have some "alone" time.. we cut cable and use netflix. I watch the basic cable channels online. Our laundry detergent(because we use so much) is not the best. but we make up for it with good fabric softener. I clip coupons and drive to 15 different stores if i have to to get the best grocery sale i can. Penny pinching is my life. and 7 years ago when i didnt have kids and i worked for the extra cash to spend on myself, i splurged. i wouldnt even drive into a parking lot that had a resale store located in it. i was anti-resale! now its where i live! I cleaned houses for a living and when the recession started up, that was the first thing people got rid of! aparently(like the rest of the world) they saw that it was a luxury and not a necessity! it hurt me then but helped me be with my family in the long run. not being in a fancy home with people to boss around(besides my kids) doesnt make me unhappy. We do what we must to take care of the ones we love. we have even asked the ex wife to move to our state, to help us and to help her(single mom).. she has loveingly said yes! 1 less expence for us all!

We really don't need a lot of "things" to make us happy. I really want to turn off cable tv for awhile. When my kids were young we would periodically do this. They had videos of course but it allowed us more to have more family time as well as reading and art time. My oldest was 3 when we first got tv.

I think it's amusing that people might feel guilty about not firing somebody during a recession. In my case, I don't have a gardener to consider sacking. But I do have to balance my priorities against my resources, just like everyone else. I'm willing to give up quite a lot before I'll cut back on food quality. I'll carry my rag-clad son in a wheelbarrow to the farmer's market and barter my tool collection for fresh, local organic vegetables to bring to my unheated hovel if it were to come to that.

Six years ago, my family was hit with everything at once. Hubs became really sick and almost died, a month later he was laid off, I was injured at work and was on WCB. We sold our huge, gorgeous house so that he could go back to university and started ALL OVER. We learned how to be frugal quick-and it was a far cry from having a nanny or having to cut back on handbags, let me tell you. Not being frugal would have resulted in us standing in line at the food bank. While I can understand that everyone has their own definition of frugal, I am betting that if any of the women on the panel were faced with the reality of ditching the salon color and handbags in order to have food, would do so in a heartbeat. Basically we cut back on everything-we sold one car, and used one only when we had to. We never went out to eat, rarely saw a movie, took Jake to the pool only on $1 swim night, and learned to enjoy the things that were free or nearly so. Shopping only happened when it was a necessity. The one thing that we did not give up was cable and internet, because we figured we really needed some entertainment. The funny thing is that now, all these years later, things are great. Hubs and I both have good jobs and we can afford many of the things that we used to do all over again. The change? We're not interested in what we used to do. We actually prefer the family time of a hike, vs a movie. We still don't eat out, and instead like cooking up things at home. Our family's view on quality time actually changed because of what we went through-and we realized that all that stuff is really just that-STUFF.

I'm interested in what a single mom would give up vs. a married mom. What is different? How do priorities get shuffled? What if you do or don't get child support/alimony? Is there pressure from the ex?

My husband is always telling me that we need to cut back. I have to keep reminding him that I'm not very high maintenance. We don't have a cleaner, we don't have a gardener, I don't have a nanny. We shop for our clothes at Target, I don't have facials/mani/pedi's etc - I do all that myself. I go to the hairdressers once every 12 weeks (if I can stretch it). I don't have Louis Vuitton handbags or Manolo Blahnik shoes. Would I like them? Of course - we can afford it - but we have two kids, a mortage & bills to pay like everyone. There is one thing that I would be sad to give up - and that's my SKII face cream! Its the most expensive thing I purchase but its my one indulgence. But in saying that - I ran out not so long ago & have been using Olay until someone goes OS (usually my husband) and can get it cheaper duty free. I won't buy it here for full retail. This may sound so stingy but I'm a stay at home mum, my husband works ridiculous hours to keep a roof over our head so if I have to give up a pair of shoes or a haircut once in a while then I guess there's not much to complain about. I'm with Loqi though on food. Living in Australia we have an abundance of fresh food produce so there's no excuse for not eating healthily. And a healthy mind & body keeps a happy, if somewhat frugal, home.

What WON'T I give up in a recession? I've pretty much given up everything except food and shelter. We haven't really been affected by the recession but I quit my job in October to stay home with our daughter and soon realized that we can't afford for me not to work if we don't pay off our credit cards. So we decided to cut out ALL discretionary expenses for 8 months so we can pay them off. My husband quit smoking, we buy only what is necessary at the grocery store, we only spend $50 eating out a month now, $30 for entertainment, no more gym, cable, no more getting my hair done or buying makeup or clothes, pretty much everything. It's been tough but it's also been rewarding. We spend more time together just cooking dinner or playing games. Plus I know there is a BIG reward at the end.