The news is full of stories chronicling the economic turnaround. But are consumers buying it? Their purchasing habits suggest they are not.

A new online poll of more than 2,500 adults by New York-based Harris Interactive reveals that consumers still are spending cautiously, especially when it comes to small everyday purchases. For example, almost half (45 percent) of those polled said they are still brown-bagging it rather than buying lunch out, while 39 percent reported going to the hairdresser less often. Another 34 percent said they've dumped bottled water in favor of their own refillable water bottle, and 22 percent reported having cut back on dry cleaning.

The poll also spotlighted the hit take taken by the media as consumers seek to trim non-essential expenditures. For example, 33 percent of consumers surveyed said they've cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions, while 22 percent have cancelled or cut back on cable TV service and 19 percent have cancelled a newspaper subscription.

However, the most common money-saving strategy, by far, is "purchasing more generic brands," an approach adopted by a whopping 63 percent of consumers, the poll said.

Interestingly, the one area in which consumers did not cut back significantly was cell phone service. According to the poll, only 15 percent of respondents changed or canceled their cell phone service over the past six months, while 52 percent have not even considered it.

The survey also highlighted generational differences in money-saving strategies. Gen Xers (those aged 34 to 45), for example, are more likely to brown-bag lunch and cut back on hair styling to save a few bucks, while Matures (those aged 65 and older) are more likely to cancel a magazine subscription. Echo Boomers (aged 18 to 33) are more likely than older consumers to cancel their landline service and use only their cell phone and to carpool or use mass transit. The survey revealed few variations in different groups' use of store brands, although Gen X consumers were the most likely to have adopted that strategy.

For more information, please visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com.