Is my new frugality anything like yours?

Last year was tough. After watching in horror as my retirement investments dropped more than 30 percent and seeing close friends lose their jobs, I was not spared the anxiety caused by the Great Recession.

I vowed to be prepared for the worst, so I gave up shopping for anything other than the essentials. No more new clothes, shoes, haircuts or highlights, throw pillows... you name it, I didn't spend money on it.

Journalists and researchers question whether the new frugality mentality is permanent or just a fad. From my viewpoint, I think it's a little of both.

Finance guru Jean Chatzky recently reported on the frugality trend in her "Sheconomics" column on wowowow.com ("Saving -- not spending -- makes consumers feel smarter"). She wrote about the results of a study by Deloitte and The Harrison Group called "The New American Pantry Study." The study revealed five new consumer behaviors that developed as a result of the bad economy, according to Chatzky. I considered these five new behaviors and wondered if, indeed, mine had changed with them. What I found is that some I had already been practicing and some did not apply at all:

1. Delayed gratification. Their survey says 40 percent of consumers are now waiting for sales to get what they want. For me, paying full price for something always seemed a little nuts. But, it's the $10 to $40 items that get me in trouble. So, last year I held back. I saved money. It felt good. But after such a long drought, my spending bounced back almost to pre-recession levels this year. I just couldn't hold back anymore. The silver lining: I do say "no" more often than I used to, and leave my store credit cards at home.

2. Private label experimentation. The survey said 75 percent of consumers are more apt to try private label brand items, typically marketed under a store's name instead of a brand name. Three years ago, I wouldn't buy any private label items. But that was before I joined Costco, where I've become hooked on the Kirkland brand -- everything from tuna fish to T-shirts. I also started buying brand-name housecleaning products (Clorox, Windex, 409, furniture polish) in bulk and found the savings to be incredible. And just recently, I made the switch to private label brand pharmacy products (ibuprofen, aspirin, contact lens solutions, first-aid stuff). The only difference I've noticed is the price, not the quality.

3. Cooking at home. Twenty percent of consumers have given up expensively prepared foods and are opting to cook from scratch, according to the survey. To be honest, I don't go to expensive restaurants unless it's a special occasion or if someone else is paying. I'm an editor, not a CEO. I've always found it cheaper to cook at home.

4. Loyalty cards boom in popularity. All I can say is you should see my key chain. I have eight plastic loyalty fobs dangling from it.

5. Couponing. The survey says more consumers are using coupons. Meh. I've never been a big coupon clipper. I do use the Costco coupons that arrive in my mailbox every month, though, so I guess that counts.

The new frugality is subjective. If you have a job, you most likely feel more secure to have weathered what we hope was the worst of the storm. If you lost your job, it will take a while to feel financially secure enough to spend money like you used to. If you always budgeted, then maybe you've had to stretch a little further out of your comfort zone. If you've never been forced to pay attention to prices, then it's been a whole new ballgame. The most significant result of this new "era" is perhaps an increased awareness of how we spend and that altering how we spend isn't as hard as we imagined it to be.