Investors don't feel like taking chances with stocks, spending

— -- The way Wendy Hunt spends, saves and invests her money is much different today than it was before the financial crisis wreaked havoc on her personal finances. The economic fallout caused by two pay cuts at her old job, carrying two mortgages for five years and watching the value of her portfolio get sliced in half has resulted in a "permanent change" in her attitude toward money, admits Cincinnati-based Hunt, 36, who landed a new job as an advertising director earlier this month.

Hunt's new financial fitness routine? Spend less. Save more. Invest more conservatively.

"If I can save money, I will," Hunt says. "I value money more than I did before."

It's what economists are calling the "New Normal," a more frugal financial world in which investment risk will be dialed back, savings will be ramped up and stockpiling money in the bank will re-emerge as a legitimate place to park cash as it was following the Great Depression.

Like millions of Americans hurt by the recession and falling stock and home values, Hunt has embraced frugality. In an effort "not to burn through money the way we used to," and save more for retirement and her kids' educations, Hunt is hunting more for bargains. She now shops for dry goods such as cereal, risotto, salsa and muffin mix at Target, where she saves up to $40 a week buying the off-price retailer's private-label brand. She has also cut back her weekly "date nights" with husband Brian, 37, to once a month.

And even though her portfolio has earned back most of the losses it suffered during the downturn, she's also taking a less risky approach to investing. The new financial adviser she hired to help sort out her finances persuaded her to boost her cash holdings to roughly 30% from 5% and slash her stock exposure in search of more consistent returns.

"I will not be as aggressive an investor as I used to be," Hunt says. "I will always strive to have more cash — the one secure security — in the bank ," adds Hunt, a mom with two daughters, Parker, 1, and Presley, 3.