Heather Havrilesky has learned how to cope with the recession in her own way – by buying beans. Not those expensive, fancy canned beans, mind you, but the bags of dry beans. Read her Salon.com article here.

As the economy soared over the past several years, she says, there were far too many options available to us, and we were ungrateful. We must now return to a time when we think about all we have, and then make better choices. Just because there is organic radicchio in the produce department, do we need to splurge on it? Why aren’t we growing our own gardens and getting back to the basics of things?

Sometimes it’s all a bit overwhelming to me, and I find myself trying to find meaning and gratitude in the little things. A smile on a child’s face. A home-grown heirloom tomato. A walk to the park instead of driving the car. Wouldn’t we all be a little happier if we simplified our lives and focused more on the meaningful and less on the fluff?