Budgeting for Recession

So is anyone else using the "Buy only whatever you absolutely cannot live without today, using only actual money you have in your hands" method?

One of my jobs nowadays is again to figure out where I can find another dollar, and then figure out how I can stretch it the furthest. Good thing I've always loved thrift stores and dumpster diving.  In fact, today I am sporting an authentic 1987 Limited turtleneck (that I purchased while back-to-school shopping my senior year, with money I'd earned myself at the Dairy Delite in Worthington, OH) and a like-new pair of royal blue windbreaker/warmup pants I found in the dumpster behind the high school. Seriously.

We're in a weird place now of not poor, but not rich. I mean, by the Joneses' standards. I am typing this on a Macbook using Wifi in my own home. It's not like I can't just walk into the kitchen and feed everyone...everyone on the block, even.  Yet, I open a browser tab to REI Outlet, find a coat discounted 70% that would be great to replace Jeff's genuine 1990 Eddie Bauer squall jacket... and realize that I really need to double check the thrift store up the road before I hit "purchase."  I will even spend 10-15 minutes hunting for that $1 off your next purchase coupon they gave me last time I was there (to purchase a new-looking Gap raincoat for $7).

My teen, btw, loves the vintage 1986 Levi jacket I let him wear. I remember I was so proud to be able to purchase it, with babysitting money. I loved that jacket.

So glad I have money in my hands, though.  All my kids are going to graduate high school and one is able to go to college now, at 17, for free, if he wants. Our water is clean. Our home is warm, and filled with joy. (....well, much of the time. Then the teens get home from high school. Haha.)

Know what kind of recession would be good for us?  A recession in expectations. A recession of standards. A recession of materialism and greed. This is why my budget will remain: today, buy only what we must to get through the day using real money.  What if chocolate were once again a rare and exotic treat that one cherished sparingly?