This might seem a little simple but if you have less than the income you used to have, then you seek out what has priority and what does not. So what do you do, well you cancel that premium movie package, you cut back on the nights out, you perhaps drive a cheaper car, in the end with the income you have you live within your means. What you don't do, if you wish to survive and not end up on the streets, is say to yourself, is there a way to keep that Mercedes Benz and not pay for the house. Yes income is a huge factor in this, but if you never change your spending habits in the first place you will soon find yourself back where you started if your income goes back up. So perhaps in our current situation in Washington, the best approach is for everyone to realize that there is nothing wrong with cutting spending as well as raising income. On a personal level, I happen to believe that we can raise income in one of two ways, one is obvious, create more jobs, the other is limit the number of corporate and personal deductions where people actually pay taxes rather than pay people to do their taxes.