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Big-ticket expenditures aren't the only ones consumers are avoiding as the economy continues to look grim. Whether the recession has technically ended or not, people are still pinching their daily pennies in a whole range of ways, according to a Harris Poll released this week.

The survey (conducted last month) asked respondents to say whether they'd taken various steps during the past six months "in order to save money." Atop the list, 63 percent said they'd been "purchasing more generic brands," and 45 percent said they'd been "brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it." The economy is taking its toll on people's hair, as 39 percent said they'd been "going to the hairdresser/barber/stylist less often."

Among other austerities adopted by significant numbers of respondents are "switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottle of water" (34 percent), "cut down on dry cleaning" (22 percent) and "stopped purchasing coffee in the morning" (21 percent).

Outlays for media have taken a hit as consumers try to economize. Thirty-three percent reported having "cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions"; 22 percent claimed they'd "cancelled or cut back cable television service"; 19 percent said they'd "cancelled a newspaper subscription."

Phone service is another area where respondents said they've been trying to reduce their outlays. Seventeen percent said they'd "changed or cancelled cell phone service," while 15 percent reported having "cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone."

You might think people have been easing away from such cutbacks as the economy seems to stabilize, but comparison with earlier polls in this series gives no such indication. Indeed, the percentages of respondents saying they've taken these money-saving steps have mostly shifted a bit upwards from last June, though they're a bit down from last October. The number saying they've stopped buying a morning coffee has trended steadily upward, from 15 percent in June to 20 percent in October to its current 21 percent.

In a breakdown by age, the poll's 34-45-year-olds are the most likely to have been making a lot of spending cuts. For instance, 66 percent have been saving money by buying more generic brands, vs. 63 percent of the 46-64-year-olds, 61 percent of the 65-plusers and 60 percent of the 18-33-year-olds.

Additional details from the survey can be found here.

(Source: Adweek, 02/17/10)