I personally have increased my spending dramatically in response to getting killed on my equities. I have also increased my charitable giving.
I imagine that some of this is psychological to cheer me up with the market tanking and having lost my companion cat a few months ago, but I am not wasting the money.
I have been improving things in my house that had been put off - fixed the stove hood; just bought a new stove tonight; adding insulation to the attic; bought a couple sofa tables (one for the foyer and one for the living room window); got the chimney cleaned so I can burn wood that I have on hand and save on oil; getting a chimney cap that I should have had long ago and having the mortar fixed on the chimney; getting a mouth guard to protect against grinding my teeth while I sleep
I have been going to Home Depot and it seems hopping. I heard on the radio tonight the Home Depot had a good earnings report.
On the other hand I have cut back on eating out.
For some reason it seems like spending a few thousand does not matter since it is so small compared to the other losses.
I have seen several stores going out of business in my area though - furniture and jewelry stores.
I also have been buying some ETF's and index funds from week to week. It seems every couple of weeks I buy about 1% of equities. I guess you could call it rebalancing when out of whack by 5% or more.
My only worry is that the few thousand I spend on things might have been better used to keep my cash up so I can buy more equities later on.
Even with all this spending I still have a couple years expenses in cash and my job seems to be holding up - at least for the moment.
It is like someone said (maybe Tom Friedman): "This current financial crisis will just be a small blip on the radar screen compared to the climate crisis and extinction event that we are headed for in a few years."
On the other hand - I just remembered that when I bought the stove at a regional chain store I may have been the only customer in the store or close to it.