That said, I know what you mean about selective budgeting. I make sacrifices in the same way – giving up this or that so my husband and I can take a couple small trips a year.

Cutting down on meat definitely makes a difference. When I was in college I would go months without any meat at all. But I was still able to shop and eat at restaurants with friends. My parents on the other hand have an all-or-nothing approach to budgeting. If they are worried (as they are now) about the economy, they stop all unnecessary spending.

Just bought 2 books last night on the topic: “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi and “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey

I think I only have one must-have item and that's the internet (I'm a web consultant by trade).

Like your situation, it's all a balance game. I try saving a ton of money on my energy bills by keeping my apartment at 78-80 in the summer and 62 in the winter IF I have to turn on the heat (yay Florida). I don't buy anything at full price – designer discount stores and thrift shops are my friends. I monitor my spending on food and other things I can control. I'm not taking a lot of vacations. I put money into my savings account (I consider this “spending” but the economy wouldn't).

I do spend, and I enjoy spending. But, I'm not getting myself into debt because of it. If the economy is relying on me to spend to get us out of it, well, let's just say, I wouldn't bet on it.

In terms of other spending habits, we also do not have cable, or smart phones, and we don't go out and spend extravagantly at bars/restaurants. I'm very thrifty about clothing purchases as well and generally only buy items on sale. I think we're unusual in the amount we save… talking to a friend last week, she was surprised at how much we put into investments. Our financial goals focus around cutting down student loans, having a savings stash of 6 months expenses (done as of last year), and maxing out our IRA contributions (we're really close to this one). We do these things before our fun purchases, but we've been able to manage our money to allow for fun stuff like nice vacations and furniture for our condo. And on the occasional shopping spree for clothes etc, I like to tell my husband that I'm just doing my part to help the economy

If saving the world means spending on retail and entertainment, then yes, Gen-Y will save the world. Not to get technical here, but the vast majority of people expect the economy to return to where it once was – what we're familiar with. In truth, it'll never return to that and the new “normal” is something Gen-Y hasn't seen.

Gen-Y is definitely spending on, as mentioned above, retail and entertainment. That's important as these businesses drive a significant portion of the economy. But again, no one is saving anything.

As I mentioned earlier, I come from the financial space and I'm cheap…err resourceful. So I'm saving, saving, saving. I'd rather work my butt off now, save my money and have fun later. I don't want to work when I'm 65, I don't want to work after 55. So for me, I'd rather sacrifice some fun now, so I can have fun later. But that's me and I'm probably in the minority here.