Consumer Spending/Saving Rates in 2008

There's been a lot of talk about consumer spending recently, including how this latest economic downturn might influence it. Well, now we have a better idea of what the impact has been. From today's A.P. News article...

...personal consumption spending dropped by 1 percent in December. That was slightly worse than the 0.9 percent decline economists expected. The government also revised its November estimate lower to show spending fell 0.8 percent rather than 0.6 percent in that month.

At the same time, this seems like it's having a beneficial impact on the personal SAVINGS rate, which for the last few years had hovered not far above zero...that's right...zero!

Americans worried about the possibility of more job cuts boosted their savings rate to 3.6 percent of their after-tax incomes in December. That was the highest level since tax rebate checks temporarily pushed the rate up to 4.8 percent in May

What do you think? Have your spending habits changed, as you look at your own budget? Are you saving more, if at all?