Americans shift their purchasing habits

What we're buying -- and not buying -- says a lot about how consumers are feeling these days.

It also says a lot about the American economy, considering that consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of all U.S. economic activity.

Here's a look at what people are and aren't buying.

Food

Spam, Spam, Spam. Hormel said sales of its meat-in-a-can continued to rise in the quarter, gaining in the low double digits, while sales of other canned items and Hormel chili kept improving. Hormel's party trays, which sell for about $10, continued to be strong, as they have been throughout the recession.

Food prices may be dropping as ingredient costs fall for manufacturers, but they're still not low enough for consumers, who are shopping with savings in mind. They keep dropping down to store brands and they're still willing to sacrifice convenient items like frozen foods to pad their food budgets.

But that doesn't mean they're being entirely thrifty. Consumers will pay for things they perceive have value, and that includes name brands.

Home

Consumers are staying close to home, and they want it to look nice. But they're not committing to big purchases like patio furniture to spruce up their home.

They're tackling more projects themselves, especially smaller ones, and opting to fix a faucet themselves rather than call a plumber. They're also planting gardens, perhaps with an eye toward trimming their food budgets. And forget new appliances -- they're making do with what they have.

Clothes, other basics

Target says the items people feel they need the most, like products related to health care, food and beauty, are doing the best. The beauty category benefited from people making those purchases at Target rather than in more expensive department stores.

Shoppers are still tightfisted and cautious. They're looking for bargains -- which is why traffic is up at stores like T.J. Maxx. But they're not yet ready to resume shopping at pre-recession levels. They're still shopping with an eye toward fashion, though, and want to keep up with trends.