Shoppers cut back on spending, for now

Not long ago, a friend persuaded Angelika Hederer to accompany her on a little shopping spree at Banana Republic. Hederer, who concedes her clotheshorse tendencies but considers herself to be a choosy, temperate shopper, bought two pairs of pants (one black, one white) and a navy V-neck sweater, items that already were well-represented in Hederer's abundant wardrobe at her Westside home.

Everything she bought was 30% off, and the bill came to $180, hardly extravagant for a woman of Hederer's means. (Her husband, now retired, made a comfortable living selling European auto parts). But when she got home, she felt her purchases nagging her with silent reproach.

"I put the bag on the floor and went to my computer and then I thought, 'I'll bring it back,' " she recalled. "I don't need it. Why the expense now? Why should it hang in my closet?" She returned the clothes.

Like a number of well-to-do Americans, Hederer lately has been reappraising her fashion spending habits. Her feelings are sometimes conflicted.

On the one hand, Hederer noted, some economists are urging those with jobs and incomes to help reheat the cooled-down economy by firing up their credit cards. On the other hand, she thinks that the affluent should show some solidarity with the rest of society by cutting back in tough economic times. She believes that, like charity, consumer chastity ought to begin at home.

"Now with the recession I can be very good and not buy anything," said Hederer, a native of Germany. "I spend all my money for Pilates. Because one really has enough."

But a number of social scientists, behavioral experts and sustainable-living or "voluntary simplicity" advocates say that holding to such resolve and self-imposed moratoriumsisn't likely to be simple or easy. It's an attempt to alter, in a relatively short period of time, attitudes and routines acquired over years, if not decades. And because making such changes could entail bucking peer pressure, class expectations and self-perception, not to mention plain old habit, it's daunting for a person acting alone. The task is likely to get even tougher once the recession (presumably) lifts.

The trick for those moved to cut back, some experts say, is to think more deeply about whether that exquisite pair of Louboutins or that pair of $250 jeans truly enhances their quality of life.