frugal consumer

That box of store-brand cereal is looking more tempting to a lot of Americans: A new Harris poll lists buying generic as the top way consumers are cutting back on everyday expenses. What other methods are we using to stretch out our budgets, and how much more frugal are we getting? Read on ...

U.S. consumers appear to be getting bit less frugal: The amount of consumer credit in use unexpectedly rose in October for the second straight month. But the whole rise came from non-revolving debt, which includes auto loans and personal loans, while revolving debt, which includes credit cards, plunged.

A recent poll shows that penny-pinching is still on the rise in the wake of the Great Recession: 62% of American surveyed are buying more generic brands, and 45% are brown-bagging lunch to save cash. Moreover, the direction of the poll numbers suggests permanent changes in the way Americans spend.

Consumers are notoriously fickle in their allegiances and interests -- remember those food-assembly kitchens that were all the rage a few years ago? But the recession has sobered buying habits, and increasingly, more companies are viewing Americans' recent conversion to thrift as a long-term trend,...

On Sunday, The New York Times printed an op-ed by novelist Pico Iyer. In the piece, "The Joy of Less," Iyer explored the wonder of reduced circumstances, suggesting that privation may be the key to physical and moral happiness. In the process, he suggested a likely new direction for mass-marketing:...

This is the second in a periodic series on economic trends in the United States. Along with usual adjustments that businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are making to cope with the economic downturn -- elimination of optional expenses, more cautious inventory purchases,...