Comment: Voting Republican all the way around this election cycle. from S. Portland by Jim

Comment: im buying a lifejacket,maybe that will keep my head above water from so po by al

Comment: put the frigin gas prices down and every one wont be so mad and will buy more to make more money from naples by Kyle

Comment: Abandon conspicuous consumption. Stay home now and then. Refuse to buy prepared foods - make it yourself. Demand your government give a share of the $700B bailout TO YOU! from Arundel, ME by Mabel

Comment: I'm only buying the things I need. The wants will have to wait, I'm not using the credit card, and just sticking closer to home. Planning the errands for the week and do them all in one day, one big round trip instead of 3 to 4 little ones from Sabattus

Comment: I am hoping for a Powerball or Megabucks bailout :) from Kennebunkport by Bud

Comment: Good question! If there's a secret.. please.. i'd like to know about it! from Maine by Waldo

Comment: There is no escape. But, cutting my own wood and buying a fuel efficient car has been a big help. Also, we have a garden and hunt and fish to fill our freezer. We also pick berries in the summer. We don't go anywhere or buy anything we don't have to. from Oxford, ME by Wendell

Comment: Cutting back on luxury items: cable, internet, going out to eat, shopping only for what is needed. by Wendy

Comment: If you don't have the money don't use your credit card. Don't buy anything right now if you don't need it. IMPROVISE! IMPROVISE!IMPROVISE!!!!!! from Woolwich by Kim

Comment: We have removed our home phones, cancelled all papers and memberships, and cut back to the minimum all of the services that we can--keeping basic cable and internet. from Sidney, ME by Sue

Comment: My credit is shot from sub-prime lending. There's nothing I can do but hold my breathe. I can't even get help with heating costs! from Windham by Velma

Comment: we have none! thanks to gov we have nothing! keep taking from the working class so the rich get richer....... from portland by linda

Comment: Stay home and don't spend any money or buy food. Cause we just can't afford to go anyplace and we sure can't buy food cause it takes gas to drive to the grocery store and no one can afford gas except president Bush. from St. George by Marie

Comment: go with the flow,if you can't beat "em" join "em" from augusta,maine by sandy

Comment: The banks should be renegotiating their defaulting loans. The cannot sell these houses at what was paid for them. Maybe a 40 yr loan to let them off the hook. Or maybe just take a point or two off the loans! It's better to have some money coming in rather than none. Not to mention the fact that a mortgage is usually twice what you actually are loaned! from South Portland, ME by Micah

Comment: Roll my own cigerettes. Save about 200.00 a month by doing this. Takes about 15 min to roll 20 cigs. from sabattus maine by scott

Comment: Limit any and all spending. Economize- or go without incidentals. from OOB., Me by Ben amd Kathy

Comment: on the sublect of lockin price i bought the down side to pay less when the price drops from south portland by brian

Comment: A maximum wage. Not a minimum wage. from Auburn, ME by Jeffrey

Comment: 1. Stuff twine or rope or plastic grocery bags in gaps and crevices around unused doors and windows throughout the cold weather. from Portland by Ken

Comment: The reason that Wall Street and our economy is so bad is because of the millions and millions of dollars the goverment spends every month on the senseless WAR that Bush is making our troops fight and die for. When the war ends our economy will be back to normal! from Maine by Ronnie

Comment: cuttingback on groceris,shutting off rooms in for heat,burning more wood keeping temp. down in house sealing up more around house going only to work with car and doing earns along the way and no extra trips and only get by week to week paying all household bills and hoping to not lose my house which will be ours in four years,close to retiring and can't now due my hours being cut to 29hrs. aweek and my husbands woodmill not looking good right now. from peru maine by kathleen

Comment: Eat at home, cook from scratch, have a garden and preserve the produce, take care of your car and keep it 20 years, buy good clothes in plain styles and keep them nice, consolidate errands to save gas, stop going shopping as a form of recreation, walk instead of buying a gym membership. I do all of these things, and more, so you see, it is not only possible, but fun, to beat the economy. from Readfield, ME 04355 by Florence

Comment: live below your means!! from Winthrop by Donna

Comment: the sad paart is to beat it we have to stay home ,can't even afford to take a ride to see foiliage ,pretty sad for seniors from lisbon by pee wee

Comment: I think to beat the bad economy we should focus more on stocking up goods and saving money for important items. from Westbrook by John

Comment: There is no secret to the economy..just take it one day at a time and do the best we can. I do believe this political bailout is sending all these mortgage companies and such into a complete panic when it was supposed to get everything back into some sort of normalcy. from Farmington by Suzanne

Comment: Spending less, certainly, but spending much more carefully is really the key. from Gorham ME by Nancy

Comment: Pay off your credit cards each month and pay no interest. Can't pay, don't buy from Rumford by Paul

Comment: Stop any unnecessary spending. from Raymond by Steve

Comment: You may have heard the line from the song "somebody told us Wall Street fell, but we were so poor that we couldn't tell". Well for us the troubles on Wall Street don't change much of anything. We have always made things from scratch, used, reused, repaired, and used up most everything. If more people had been more careful with what they had and not so waistful, they would have all they need now. We grow as much as we can, we never throw away a nickle can or bottle, or pass up the chance to pick up a penny on the pavement. "Every penny counts." We have always consolidated our trips in the car - doing all that needed to be done in one trip when at all possible. That may mean a little delayed gradification but it has saved us a lot in transportation costs. We have raised 4 young men who know the value and feel of a hard days work and the rewards of doing it yourself or doing without. We have never been too proud to go against the current trends if necessary to save on dollars. I guess for us it has paid off. I'm not saying that we have any more money than any one else. In fact we probably have a lot less. But we are comfortable with the way we live and feel our priorities are in the right place. It's not about money. from Nobleboro by Robert and Sandra

Comment: stop cable, stop phone, walk when posibul, cook home cooked meals from Lewiston by Brian

Comment: I choose to for now to give up driving for now and start walking. The gas and repairs for a car is just not in the budgetfor this girl. from Lewiston Maine by Theresa

Comment: I really don't believe that there is no secret to beating a bad economy, only being able to have control of how you have allways lived with-in your mean's. Those who are in bad striaght's right are only themselves to blame for their greed. You have to control how you spend you money and be very careful of what other's are trying to sell. I grew up on a farm in southern Maine and we did not have much, not that I did not strive to live better just smarter, and always lived within our means. People today live way beyond their mean's and now they are paying for it. from Wells by David

Comment: Budget, Budget, Budget...oh and I am voting for Obama from Gorham by Shonn

Comment: I have no idea, This is the first time I have ever experienced this . Its been hard and im affraid it will only get much worse. from Oxford , ME . by Lindsay

Comment: Maintaining a debt free lifestyle is the way to go. We don't use credit cards, we only pay for items if we have the cash. When you have no consumer debt the flucuations in the economy don't seem to affect you as bad. from Portland by W.

Comment: business as usual!!! from round pond, maine by Rich

Comment: I'm considering moving to Australia! from Portland by K

Comment: The economy isn't bad. It's great. Look at the values in retail stores. If you had saved during good times you'd have money for the bad. from Brunswick by Joe

Comment: We stay home except to go to work, not even visiting family. We have cut back on birthday gifts for the kids, have become VERY creative when meal planning, and trying to go as long as possible before turning the heat on this fall. It will be a very long winter for many of us. from Mt. Vernon

Comment: Instead of concentrating all of your efforts on increasing your income, concentrate them instead on ways to decrease your outgo. Also, learn how to save regularly in a sacrosanct saving account. Pay for your future in advancem just a little bit at a time-but very regularly. from auburn, me. by roland

Comment: Cut back on all the little things that I took for granted...like going to the store for a sandwich, when you can make one at home. from Buxton, Maine by Laurie

Comment: fix the oil prices so we can afford to heat our homes and travel less expensively from Auburn by Ron

Comment: Buying generic brands! and buying less non Necessity items! from Scarborough by Kat

Comment: If I need to buy certain items i go to ebay where I can save an avaerage of 33% off retail from Portland Maine by Dan

Comment: Don't over spend in the first Place Know what you have available and stay in your limits Alittle Debt is really good for the credit score! Make weekly payments vs. monthly from Lewiston by Kent