How i adapted well to the economic change

I grew up in a family with modest means and I think my simple and humble upbringing has been a tremendous help in these tough economic times. Although I'm not an impulsive buyer, there were times that I bought something because I liked it and not because I needed it. Nowadays, I think a million times before I spend on something. I realized that I can't afford to waste my hard-earned money especially with the present economic situation. Now, I'm more interested in saving just like the rest of the people in America. After 15 years, American people are saving again with a rate of 6.9% in May, an increase from the 5.6% increase in April. People want to hold on to their money especially with the economic future still uncertain.

I read a lot of tips on how to save money mostly on finance websites like fortune.com and cnnmoney.com. I have also been aggressively buying stocks and ETF's especially now that they're sold at bargain prices. I'm working two jobs to keep the cash flow going. I have also saved money on my cable bill and cellphone bills. We have minimized dining out and we save it for special occasions.

With my cable, Internet, and phone bill I used to pay $185.00/mo. not even including other charges. I realized that we've been paying for premium channels (called digital preferred plus) that we don't even watch and that's for $39.45. I got rid of it and that's $473.40 savings per year. Now we pay $145.00++/mo. for my cable,phone, and Internet. It's still a lot but we need those services.

After our cellphone contract expired last December, we decided not to renew it and instead signed up for a prepaid cellphone. With our previous cellphone service, we had 1400 minutes for $89.99+++/mo. We seldom use our cellphones to the point that we realized it wasn't really a necessity for us. The only time I used it was when I wanted to let my husband know that I was already out of the office and that I was waiting for him at the parking lot or he'd call me to let me know that he's on his way. So we decided to get a prepaid cellphone service and it was the best saving decision we've ever made. Now we only pay $27.00/mo. for our cellphone bill and we still have so much extra minutes left. That's $756.00/year savings.

We used to dine out regularly. Now I buy the ingredients and cook at home. I save on tips plus restaurants are overpriced anyways. On special occasions we dine out and we don't order more than what we could eat.

But our biggest savings was on child care. My son didn't attend after school care while my husband is still looking for a job. We saved $2,800 for six months.

I think that recession has done me more good than bad. My saving skills are getting better each time and I have become a wise spender. I value hard work now more than ever. I'm always inspired by the line that 'hard work is the key to a good life'.