At The Wine Rack in Morgantown, where sales from the $10-and-under shelves are booming, Jocelyn Vorbach says aloud what most of her customers won't.

Faced with a struggling economy, Vorbach says friendships now have price tags, and dinner guests are gauged. It's a matter of redefining what consumers' consider luxury and non-essential.

The numbers show Americans are already choosing: Starbucks is closing 100 underperforming stores. Sales of trucks, SUVs and roomy sedans are plunging. Retailers are slashing prices to lure shoppers back to the malls. Though 94 percent of Americans still pay their mortgages on time, some are giving up extras or tapping into savings to do so.

Even in a college town with a robust local economy, people are cutting back. Jim Elliott, a prison chaplain in Morgantown, has taken up hiking over concerts and plays. Homemaker Debbie Copen is clipping coupons. Alice and Joe Thompson are carpooling to work at West Virginia University. Vicki Stemple, a registered nurse, buys only the basics at Sam's Club.

Though her Toyota Matrix needs a catalytic converter, Stemple says there's no way she's forking out $800 for it.