DH and I are doing okay. We already had a fair amount of slack in our budget, so basically we buy less fun stuff to pay the increased prices for gas, food, etc.

I do find the current economic situation frustrating though. DH and I live somewhat conservatively so we can indulge in new toys (We're a couple of tech geeks ), bike stuff for me, sports apparel for him (How many hockey jerseys does one guy need?!?), weekends out of town, and so on. As prices keep rising, our conservative lifestyle is paying off less and becoming more of a necessity. And I don't know if things will every really turn around. The stock market may go up, but are food prices ever really going to return to something more normal? Gas prices didn't after Hurricane Katrina. That's my real worry, that everything that's going on now will just set a new standard for pricing, rather than being a temporary hike.

Anastasia