iReporters learning to live with less

(CNN) -- Faced with a nationwide financial crisis, a volatile stock market and rising unemployment and inflation rates, many Americans are making changes in their personal spending habits.

Ingrid Zaharris started cutting back drastically in May. She and her 6-year-old daughter moved into a smaller home in Allen, Texas, after realizing that she would be unable to afford the summer electricity bills coupled with the cost of rent for her house.

Financial worries also forced Zaharris to take her daughter out of gymnastics classes and stop the lawn service.

"I'm just trying to get back to basics," she said, adding that she has considered even getting rid of her car. "I'm just trying to get rid of those extra things just to get by."

Zaharris is one of many iReporters who shared stories of dealing with a worsening economy. Like many others, she wonders how she wound up in such a tough financial situation. iReport.com: Read more of Zaharris' story

"Every day I ask myself, why does someone who has a salary over $80,000 struggle so much?" Zaharris wrote on iReport.com. "Gas costs more, groceries cost more, there are always checks to write for things at [my daughter's] school. The money just trickles away."

Molly Zolad of Woodbridge, Illinois, said she's trying to simplify her life and make smart financial decisions. She stopped using credit cards and has made small day-to-day changes such as brewing her own coffee.

"I had no idea how much waste I truly had in my life until the crunch of everything hit at once," she wrote on iReport.com. "Medical bills for myself, my two dogs, and the pay decrease from my company ... it all adds up."

Zolad says the biggest sacrifice has been her time. She began a second part-time job at her church to earn extra money and avoid paying a baby sitter. She said her new lifestyle has made an "amazing difference." iReport.com: Read more of Zolad's story

Kathleen Fallon shared on iReport.com a list of several luxuries that she gave up such as cable, land-line phones, dining at restaurants and allowances for her children. She told CNN's Josh Levs that the sacrifices have been "a gift in some ways."

"We're having more conversation, we're finding things to do as a family that are free, we play basketball, we play tennis. Homework's getting done better too." Watch Levs' interview with Fallon »

John Stevens, on the other hand, is "scared to death."

"I'm currently in a Chapter 13 to save my condo, but I don't even think that will work for me," he said. "The payment to the trustee every month is too high and along with the mortgage payment."

Stevens works in the automotive industry and said his pay has been decreasing around $200 per month lately. He is considering changing careers, but says that many companies in his home state of Connecticut aren't hiring.

According to a nationwide report released Tuesday by the American Psychological Association, as many as 80 percent of Americans are stressed about their personal finances and the economy.

Nearly 7,000 Americans responded to the survey between April and September of this year. Within five months, anxiety about the economy rose from 66 percent to 80 percent.

"I'm tired of what's going on and how the average citizen is suffering and our top leaders are more concerned with the big corporations and Wall Street," Stevens said. "I'm sad right now because I don't know how my future or even the next day is going to be." iReport.com: Read more of Stevens' story

iReporter Peter Cabrera also expressed anger about the Wall Street crisis because of the financial struggles affecting his parents.

"Both my parents did everything the right way," said Cabrera, a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. "They worked hard, they saved." His father has retired early, Cabrera said, "and he's now watching his 401K disappear." iReport.com: See why Cabrera is 'terrified' for his parents

Mia Cole of Memphis, Tennessee, is making a major sacrifice because of financial struggles: She's giving up her ideal wedding. "Our dream wedding has turned into just that ... a dream," she wrote on iReport.com.

"After months of no dinner dates, salon appointments or name-brand condiments, we managed to save a few thousand for a low-key dream wedding," she said. But in the two months since Cole and her fiancé were both laid off from their jobs, they have used that money to pay for everyday expenses.

"More than likely we will go to a justice of the peace and say our vows and pray that in a few years when we are better and the country is better, our dream will come true," Cole said.

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