Saving During Tough Times: Five Questions to Ask Yourself

Economic Survival Question 2: What Industry Do You Work In?

If yours is a niche industry, Yochim says it could be a double-edged sword. For example, if your specialty is no longer in demand, then it's going to be harder to find a job, and in that case you'll need more savings. On the other hand, Yochim said, "if you have specialized skills that are in high demand, then great." There will always be natural turnover.

Phoebe Hendricks, 26, and her husband Willie, 29, both rely on Willie's income as an electrician for a power distribution company in Missouri. His specialized skills are in demand everywhere, but if he were to lose his job, their family would most likely need to relocate. "His job is pretty stable, but we still wanted to be prepared in the event that he lost his job," Phoebe said. "He should be able to find a job fairly easily; however, we would have to move. With that there are added expenses and we wanted to make sure that all of our debt was out of the way and we had some money saved back for our normal expenses."

They had about $36,000 in debt before deciding to take control of their finances in 2007.

"I laid out every single expense we had, wrote it down, and we just kinda looked it over," Phoebe said. "It was almost like a wakeup call."

They trimmed their grocery bill from $650 a month to $300 a month by staying away from processed foods. "I make everything now," Phoebe said. "I honestly think that your grocery budget is the easiest place to cut. Using cash [to pay for food] has really helped us. It was a major, major factor."

Now they're saving about 20 percent of their income whereas before they spent more than 100 percent. For the Hendricks family, life has changed a lot since they first started saving a few years ago.

"It's more peaceful and less stressful in a massively great way," Phoebe said. "I appreciate things so much more now than I ever did then. I think it's because we're a lot stricter with our money. We really have to think a purchase through before we do it."

Phoebe also said they are closer as a family because they spend more time together, including family game night.

"Now for our entertainment, instead of going out to dinner we have dinner at home then go outside and do something," she said.