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      From 2007 to2010，American households lost $l1 trillion in real estate，savings,and stocks More than half of all U．S．workers either lost their jobs or wereforced to take cuts in hours or pay during the recession．Theworst may be behind them now, but the shocking losses of the past few yearshave reshaped nearly every facet of their lives—how they live，work，andspend—even the way they think about the future．

      For Cindy, therecession began when her husband was relocated to Rhinelander, Wisconsin．byhis company forcing the family to move in a hurry．The couple bought a new house but wereunable to sell their two-bedroom home in Big Lake，Minnesota．With two mortgages(抵押借款) and two young children to care for, Cindy couldn't imagine howto stretch her husband's paycheck to keep her family fed．

      Then shestumbled upon an online community called Blotanical，aforum for gardeners，many with an interest in sustainability．“Themore I read and discussed these practices，the more I realized this would help notonly our budget but also our health，”she says．

      Cindy admitsthat before the recession，she was a city girl with no interest ingrowing her own dinner．“I grew flowers mostly—I didn’t thinkabout plants that weren’t visually interesting." But to stretch her budget，shebegan putting in vegetables and fruit—everything from strawberry beds to appletrees—and as her first seedlings grew，her spirits lifted．Sheno longer thinks of gardening and making her own jams as just a money saver；they’rea genuine pleasure．“It’s brought us closer together as afamily, too，”she says．Her kids voluntarily pitch in with(主动帮助)the garden work，and the family cooks together insteadof eating out．The food tastes better —it's fresher and organic —and thegarden handily fulfills its original purpose：cost cutting．Nowshe spends about $200 to $300 a month on groceries．lessthan half of the $650 a month that she used to lay out．

      Afterdiscovering how resourceful she can be in tough times，Cindyis no longer easily discouraged．“It makes me feel proud to be able tosay I made it myself,”she says．“I feel accomplished，andI'm more confident about attempting things I've never done before．"Now she avoids convenience stores and has begun learning to knit，quilt，andmake her own soap．"I don't think I would have everbegun this journey if it weren’t for the recession，”shesays．“I have a feeling that from now on，itwill affect my family’s health and happiness for the better．"