According to Halifax Home Insurance, the majority of us are looking to cut down on our all-round spending. It found that 73% of Brits are sharing moneysaving tips with their family, friends and neighbours, while 84% of people are trying to save money for the future.
And in a new era of austerity, it seems anything goes. According to online savings bank, Kaupthing Edge, just under three in five people say they make use of special offers and money-off vouchers to cut their food shopping bills, while 15% of us are considering joint trips to the supermarket to reduce spending on petrol.
Now it seems our thrifty ways are having a knock-on effect that's hitting some businesses really hard. And the ones that are being hardest hit are in sectors in which we all spent like there was no tomorrow when the going was good. High street retailers, jewellers and car dealerships were the first to feel the strain. But now that things have got even worse, there's a whole host of other businesses that are facing financial ruin as we rein in out spending and quickly learn to save, not splurge.
Of course, though, wherever there are losers there are also winners. And some pretty unexpected success stories are cropping up as we all learn to live in a new era of austerity. Or probably just what our grandmothers would call "sensible spending".
MSN Money's guide to surviving the credit crunch
Loser: restaurants and nightclubs
As we cut our spending the first thing to go is eating out. After an era in which dinner parties at home were scrapped for meals out at expensive restaurants, the seats are sitting empty as we Brits stay in and cook our own supper instead.
As a result, many restaurant chains have put their expansion plans on hold. While others, such as Nobu, the stylish Japanese restaurant co-owed by Robert de Niro, have decided to batten down the hatches - Ubon, the sister restaurant to Nobu at Canary Wharf, closed its doors in September.
Further evidence of the effect the credit crunch is having is the number of restaurant chains that have dropped plans to list their shares on the stock market.
Those that are already listed have had to weather the storm and most have felt the chill that has whistled through every sector of the investment world. Clapham House, operator of the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Tootsies restaurant chains, has seen its shares fall by 75% over the past few months. And Carluccio's, the Italian restaurant and delicatessen chain, Carluccio's, has seen its shares fall by almost a third this year.
Peter Baldwin, a partner at specialist debt restructurings and insolvencies law firm Jones Day, said it's no surprise that restaurants are feeling the pinch. "It's a sector that's going to have a really tough time. The first expenses that people cut are the personal expenses, like restaurants."
And you can see why when you look at the costs involved. According to research carried out by Halifax Home Insurance, a night out for four - taking in a movie, dinner, drinks and taxis - costs around £254. A night in with a rented DVD and a takeaway would set you the same four people back just £58.44. That's a saving of £195.56 - or almost £50 a head.
Winner: home delivery
Home delivery is the fastest growing segment of the "eating out" market, according to Mintel, the market research firm. Domino's Pizza reported strong trading in the first 16 weeks of 2008 with like-for-like sales up 13.3%.
Loser: supermarket giants
It's not as though as we can stop eating to save ourselves a few quid, but we can cut back. And we are.
A study by the Co-operative Bank revealed that more than a third of people surveyed are making cuts in their weekly shopping spend. We're typically spending £68.33 per adult on the weekly supermarket shop, compared with an average of £89.88 in 2007. So it's no surprise that the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Asda are feeling the pinch.
The two key items to have dropped off our shopping lists are flowers and magazines, while next on the hit list is bottled water, expensive handwash and CDs, followed by wine, teeth whitening products, fabric conditioner, unsliced bread and nail polish.
Ocado, the home delivery service that supplies Waitrose food and drink, says it has bucked the trend and seen turnover grow, but it has noticed sales of bottled water have fall and adds that shoppers are buying fewer bottles of wine, albeit of better quality.
Emma Thomas, from the Co-operative Bank, commented: "People are being more conservative in their spending and are finding that cutting back on luxury items can help make a difference. Developing a household budget is essential to keep spending in check and to identify ways costs can be trimmed."
Winner: budget brands
Thanks to the credit crunch, the budget supermarket chains, such as Costcutter, Aldi and Lidl, have been transformed from the haunt of cash-strapped students to the savvy housewife's favourite.
Sales at Costcutter have grown by 6.2% so far this year, the firm says. And you can see why, when the costs are as low as they are. Lidl came out as the cheapest supermarket after a recent survey carried out by Which? magazine. In a price comparison of a typical shopping basket, the publication found that Aldi was 3% more expensive, while Tesco was 21% more expensive than Lidl.
Of course there is a price to pay for that low-cost weekly shop - and it's quality.
The same Which? survey showed that Tesco performed better in terms of the percentage of the most important ingredient in some of the studied items. Its meat balls, for instance, had a meat content of 86%, but only 61% at Lidl.
"The shopping experience is dire, but you get excellent quality at low prices," as one shopper told Which? Or to put it another way, you pays your money, and you takes your choice.
Our Frugal blogger pits budget versus branded
Loser: taxi drivers
Pity your poor cab driver. As we cut down on nights out on the town, there are fewer of us on the streets late at night searching for a taxi to take us home. And taxi drivers are suffering as a result.
But it's not just the scarcity of late-night revellers that's having an impact. The collapse of financial giants such as Lehman Brothers is having a direct effect on taxi drivers. A leaked memo from Deutsche Bank showed that employees have been told to take the tube rather than taxis. And Goldman Sachs has issued a similar missive, telling (no doubt, disgruntled) staff that it would only pay for taxis home after 10pm.
Cab driver Stuart Curtis said: "Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights used to be heaving. Now it's only busy one night a week. I think more and more people are just staying at home. It's a struggle for taxi drivers and it's only a matter of time before the number of taxis reduces."
Winner: bicycle retailers
The eco lobby are saving the planet and saving our wallets, and bicycle sales are booming. Halfords said its pre-tax profits are up by 11%. Why? Well, many customers are hanging onto their cars for longer, which means Halfords does well out of accessories, and then there's also the fact that some are embracing a healthier and greener lifestyle (ie giving the costly car a miss) and buying bikes. It all adds to the boom.
Related links
MSN Money's guide to surviving the credit crunch
Learn how to protect yourself from the recession
Get frugal tips and advice
The 10 worst financial habits
Inflation worries and you
