Excellent thread, I saw this really great thread today and I wanted to link to it. Thanks again for taking the time to post….

I agree with you that if we can make changes that don't impact our lifestyle, those are the best kind to make because they're painless and more likely to be permanent.

And I do agree that people are making changes if they are spending less, but that doesn't indicate a change in lifestyle or a permanent change.

As a lifestyle example, what if people are still spending wrecklessly on credit cards, but they're spending less now? That wouldn't indicate a sustainable lifestyle change.

And I'll grant that many people will find a way to become more efficient and make the changes stick, but the majority will just go back to their ways when everything is said and done.

Thanks for the thoughtful comment!

The other point I want to make is that by and large, when people do find a way to perform the same buying activities while spending less, they are finding real efficiencies and real money is being saved. You can't dismiss these changes because they are important. If a bar manages to draw a large crowd at happy hour for example, they are able to operate more efficiently – for example, they can keep a skeleton crew outside the rush hour.

There are two categories of changes that will be needed to face upcoming challenges. The first, and best, kind of changes are those that allow us to maintain a semblance of our previous lifestyle at greater efficiencies. As I see it these are the most important changes as they are easier to make, have less of a downside, and preserve out standard of living. The other kind of changes may still be necessary, but we should do everything we can to streamline before we turn to those. Instead of looking gloomily at the fact that people are making win-win changes maybe you should get excited about it!

I know what you mean… I just don't have faith that millions of people have the discipline and patience required to make the changes last.

I wish it was a permanent change, as I think it would be better for the economy (and everyone), but unfortunately that's just not the case.

I'm determined to be one of the people who changes for good.

People have short memories– case in point: gas consumption rose again with declining prices . . .

There is an old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same . . . “

Great post!