Steve Hundley dumped his Jaguar convertible. He stopped taking Baltic cruises. And he stopped buying his wife pricey jewelry.
But last year, just as the recession raised its head, the San Diego resident paid $6,500 for an outdoor artisan pizza oven.
"We don't need the Jaguar or cruises to the Baltic," says Hundley, who at 56, is semiretired following a heart attack two years ago. "But cooking healthy food is a big priority."
Americans are dipping their toes back into the luxury pool — but with a mindset that's been smacked down and radically reshaped by the recession, the lure of new technologies and emerging lifestyle twists that are often as much personal as cultural.
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Photo by Jeffrey L. Brown for USA Today