Stand-Up: If the Great Recession has taught us anything, it's to spend less and save more. But are Americans actually placing their hard-earned cash into emergency savings? See for yourself ...
TAKE MOS INTERVIEWS:
"Whenever I get money I want to spend it you know? It's hard to save when you don't come from a financial background."
"Not as much as I should, most of my money is in my business, but I am doing a little bit better ... (Kirstin: if something happened would you have enough to get you through 6 months?) 3 months."
"No type of savings at all, it's like I'm trying to save and trying to get a job but it's like it's hard to do that with no opportunity out there."
"Roughly it would be about 6 months, I mean hopefully I won't have to dip into it and use it but it's probably something about 6 months."
"I think it's kind of a catch 22, you know its two sides of the same coin; you want to spend to help the economy, but at the same time you kind of want to hoard your money and just in case. I tend to fall into the latter, cuz I just want to hold on to it you know, we will kind of see what happens, If I have the chance to save or spend I'd rather save that money."
SCREEN SLATE: Have you adjusted the way view and manage your money?
"The whole culture is changing, to save more you know and spend less; which I think is a good thing Cuz this country is one of the ones that spends a lot and doesn't save as much."
"I adjusted, you know I adjusted my life style, more careful about it, don't assume I'm going to make what I made last year next year and I think that's probably a better way to live."
"You kinda have to balance yourself out. You may have to go without some things you normally would have. You can't go without necessities, but going out to eat like you normally would do or going shopping, you may have to cut back on that."
"It's definitely time to start buckling down and start saving money, you can't manage money when you're not making it."
TAG: How about you? Do you have emergency savings? To find out how you stack up against other Americans, visit Bankrate.com to read more on the June Financial Security Index. I'm Kristin Arnold.