Penny pinching is the new post-recession norm

Will pre-recession consumer spending ever return? The answer seems to be "no."

Researchers suggest that frugality is the new norm. Even after the recession is over, consumers will be pinching their pennies for awhile.

The research firm AlixPartners conducted a study and reports Americans will spend at about 86 percent of their pre-recession level once a new normal is in place. This means consumers will turn into their own handymen, continue to bring a bagged lunch to work and re-set their priorities in order to keep the family budget on track.

Spending less will be good for family savings, however, less spending will not be good for the economy as a whole. Here's the problem: Every product bought at a discount store instead of a luxury store will mean less profit for retailers and manufacturers. This will cause a downward spiral. Less profit means leaner inventories, less product choices, less technology and more costs.

The same is true across the board. A kitchen not remodeled means lost sales of appliances and supplies and lost business for the worker or salesmen. As more consumers become their own handymen, electricians, designers, landscapers and plumbers are out of a job.

The new norm will be paying with cash, and using caution when making purchases. Sanda Schramm, 63, a second-grade school teacher from Florham Park, N.J., and her husband Rob, 64, are increasing frugal each day ever since the recession. The go out for dinner only once a month, always pay in cash since the recession hit, and shop for 75 percent mark downs in consignments instead of 40 percent off racks in Macy's. Their belts have tightened since the downturn, and they don't plan on loosening their belts anytime soon.

In a normal recession time heals the money lost, and consumer spending begins to grow one again, one purchase at a time. This time, the causes of the financial meltdown have left millions financially hurt, and severely questioning the current system in place. As an Associated Press article reports, "Personal spending has fallen in four of the last six quarters -- the only time that's happened since quarterly records were first compiled in 1947."