DH and I rent, and we really haven't made much in the way of changes even though I'm not working. We were already putting most of our money into savings and paying down the debt we both accrued living young and poor in NYC. We already take the bus or ride bikes everywhere. The only change we've made is that we were going to buy a house and didn't. I don't consider us vultures, but we are looking forward to the cheaper home prices for when I've got a secure job and we're ready to buy something.

We live above our landlord and have no say about how he treats the lawn and grounds, but I would love to have a garden. I'm happy to see that, in our neighborhood at least, it's become trendy to grow the grass a bit longer, and to use the old push mowers with the revolving blade that leaves the grass with a bit of an uneven shagginess to it. All the best looking homes have this kind of lawn. Hopefully it will catch on with the others.