Depending who you listen to, we are either in a Recovery or Recession. To hear many pundits and financial talking heads about the Dow Jones Industrial Average pushing up to new levels and the official jobless rate at a four year low, you would think the “Summer of Recovery” actually happened. However, for many, this economic optimism has yet to find them. It seems that for quite a few middle and lower income Americans enduring the increased pay roll tax and wincing at the gas pump has muted their rejoicing.

Rueters/Ipsos recently found in an online poll that two-thirds of 1,538 respondents stated they are reducing their monthly spending. The remainder claim their spending has changed little.

A few of those polled were willing to reveal where they were cutting spending.

Among them was Donna Gilbert from Webster, N.H., who doesn’t use the downstairs in her house because of the heating cost. “We don’t turn the heat on that much anymore. We use the wood stove. … We have plenty of trees, thank God. We’ve cut back on just about everything. We don’t use the basement anymore,” remarked 59 year old Gilbert, who also stretches out the time between trips to the grocery store to save on gas.

Another respondent who is keeping a close eye on his financial outgo is Bob Fell, previously a millionaire and member of a family clothing store chain, who had to file for bankruptcy, and finds himself driving a 10-year-old truck he can ill afford to replace.

“Things got tougher and tougher, my business got almost impossible, all the small businesses were going out of business, credit was bad,” said Fell, age 75. “Now, we’re playing catch-up. We’re not going anywhere until we catch up a little bit. We’re just starting to get our head above water.”

Then there is Lawrence Beliz, a 68 year old resident of Escondido, Calif., whose household income dropped when his wife lost her job. Their restaurant spending has been chopped in half and they are now weighing options to reduce driving to conserve that expensive California gas.

When asked if the economy is getting better Mr. Beliz says, “Not at all, I expect it to collapse completely.” His response reflects the old adage, “If your neighbor is out of work, it is a recession, if you are out of work, it is a depression.”

There seems to be a growing disparity between those who are trying to find a good $150 bottle of wine and those who are trying to find a job, and a “Let them eat cake” attitude may not serve them well in answering the question as to whether we are headed to a recovery or recession.