Americans eye bailout but still keep cutting back

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Many Americans spent an uneasy weekend wondering whether the rescue would help in time--or at all--and trying to figure out where next to cut back as the economic screws tighten.

Would financing come through for the new washing machine? Could the old car hold out another year? Would a nice dinner out bust the budget?

"People are afraid," said Linda Morrow, who owns a shoe and handbag store in a Dallas mall. "People basically don't know what the future will bring. They're afraid to spend. They want to see what the bailout will do. They're waiting till after the election."

In more than two dozen interviews with The Associated Press across the country over the weekend, Americans described those concerns, from tighter personal credit to worries about small businesses to doubts about simply making ends meet.

Matt Watson, a 41-year-old sales manager at a showroom of motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles in Morgantown, W.Va., said his family has cut back on dinners out and is buying more generic products.

The other day, he grabbed a $5 bill off his dresser and headed to a Walgreen's drugstore for milk and bread.

"I could not buy milk and bread for $5," Watson said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Aimee Robinson needs a $200,000 loan soon for her business, which sells eco-friendly furniture in Seattle, and wonders whether the bailout might ease the way. The interest rate on her store's credit card just jumped to 17 percent from 8 percent.

"Everything came to a standstill" this summer, she said. "It hit me really, really bad."

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