President Obama says the worst might be over. The market is rising and unemployment has stabilized. But for many of us, it will be a long-haul back to recovery.

I’ve had a roller coaster financial life: well-off (early) and scrappy and single (later) and everything in-between.  It started in childhood, as my father was a professional gambler who rarely did well, but there were years when he must have hit the daily double big-time. As a kid I lived in a mansion with marble floors and a buzzer on the floor in the dining room to call the help – but barely any furniture. Consistency was not a word I understood.

I married my high-school sweetheart and we innocently spent his ample inheritance on travel and a grand house, and it was loads of fun. When I got divorced I got the house, and I made enough to get by as a freelance author, and corporate writing instructor. And sometimes I wound up in relationships with well-off men. (I always insisted that I was looking for brains.) So I’ve lived in penthouses featured in the front pages of papers, and tooled around in a series of foreign roadsters that turned heads and engendered thumbs up as I cruised past -- top down, hair blowing.

And then I’d be back on the bus. And was ok with it --grateful for the former good times, but living within whatever my means at the moment.

When I married for the second time it was for love, and we were doing alright. I felt I had achieved a comfortable balance. And then he died.

The headlines say the recession is just about over (except for those of us suffering); I just had to sell my New York condo at a loss, and have been on austerity for six months with my fixed income in the toilet. But I figure that no matter what happens to the market, by cutting back I've learned better habits.

Here are fifteen of my easy cutbacks (and dozens more in the comments section --thanks so much for those!). Keep thinking about it and add some more of your own and you'll be  surprised how easy it is to save, no matter what your means, now or later --whether the recession ends or not:

-- manicures but no pedicures, or neither-- do it yourself; cut and color your own hair (I’m getting compliments);

-- take a staycation, or better yet, a moochcation with relatives and friends;

-- eat out rarely, eat at reasonable venues, and bring food home when you do;

-- clean house for exercise;

-- rent movies;

-- avoid packaged, precooked food, and focus on cooking fresh veggies, legumes, grains and fruits;

-- buy in bulk;

-- limit wine and booze (and find good wine under $10 a bottle);

-- read the news online, and focus even more on blogs like OS;

-- take a time-out on clothes shopping (jeans and a tee are fine as a cut-back uniform);

-- use public transportation whenever possible -- or bike or walk;

-- drink tap water versus bottled;

-- read library books rather than purchases;

--  avoid drycleaning;

-- drink coffee at home –bye bye Starbucks.

I have an overall plan to be sensible as needed, and to treat myself well each day with simple pleasures, such as picnicking with a view or listening to favorite music. I can make do with less. I'm especially aware that I have more things than most people on this earth, and I can certainly enjoy a good life with or without luxuries. (Yes, being comfortable is best, but hey, it's not always possible.)

In short, whether or not my fixed-income increases again or whether the recession hangs on, I’m damn lucky I'm plucky, and damn grateful it's been a long, interesting ride.