In return to frugal mind-set, do-it-yourself on rise

These penny-pinching inclinations have not gone unnoticed by the country's major retailers, who have watched their sales plummet for months.

Whole Foods, an upscale organic grocer with prices to match, is now offering customers "value tours" to show shoppers how they can save money. Wal-Mart has hired a family financial expert to offer its customers free money-saving advice and shopping tips. Kroger, a retail food chain, also offers its shoppers customized coupons sent electronically to their homes.

Those TiVo-less few, who might actually have to sit through a commercial, might have noticed a recent change in those messages, too. In September, for instance, the mega-store Target launched its "New Day" campaign to tap into the zeitgeist and emphasize low prices. One commercial shows images and comments such as: a man biking to work - the new commute, bike $59.99; a woman doing sit-ups outside - the new gym, the new gym ball $11.88; and a father cutting his child's hair - the new barbershop, clippers $14.99.

"What we are seeing now is marketers really starting to shift what they are communicating," said Gary Bamossy, a professor of marketing at Georgetown University. "They are expressing the value of their product in dollars saved rather than some other emotional value like it being an elite brand."

Bamossy says the return to a quasi Depression-era take on consuming is not necessarily a bad thing - or something that should be temporary - as the dismal state of the economy inevitably will be.

"American consumers are the most-spending and least-saving consumers in the world," Bamossy said. "So I think this is a wake-up call for a lot of them."

no stocks today

U.S. financial markets were closed yesterday in observance of New Year's Day.