You don't need to consult a crystal ball to know 2009 will be a year of empty wallets and tightened belts.

The perils of the U.S. economy, as talk of corporate bailouts grow and major companies cut jobs or go out of business altogether, have most Americans looking to cap their personal spending. Utahns, of course, are no exception, as our seemingly insulated economy -- despite our vaunted "checkbook conservatism" --- suffers through the slowdown.

There will be a ripple effect throughout popular culture, as industries ranging from high-tech to personal fitness try to adjust to a penny-pinching America. Dipping a ladle into that vast ocean of information that is the Internet, you can find the theme of frugality threaded through predictions of the new year's trends.

» Anna D'Agrosa and Paige Newman of the Zandl Group, a New York research firm, are predicting an end to "toxic spending." "Lately, several people have even mentioned that the recession almost seems like a blessing because they are now forced to readjust their values and make different choices," Newman told The Associated Press .

» Forget the family trip to SeaWorld. No matter how sick you might be of the word "staycations" -- taking vacation time off but staying closer to home -- the practice will remain popular in 2009.

» Staying at home will prompt tech-heads to buy bigger home-theater screens , according to Mark Anderson, chief executive of the tech newsletter Strategic News Service , in a recent Business Week report.

» Dinner parties will go frugal -- with hosts serving round steak instead of prime rib, for example -- according to cookbook author Rick Rodgers in Bon Appétit magazine.

» Celebrity restaurateur (and co-host of Bravo's "Top Chef") Tom Colicchio, in Food & Wine magazine, suggests more people will go halfsies at restaurants : "Share. Split pastas and main courses, or request a half portion. I'm waiting for people at different tables to start splitting bottles of wine."

» Dressing dowdy will be "a successor to grunge," according to David Wolfe, trend forecaster for The Doneger Group, quoted by The Associated Press. "I think it's going to be much more sophisticated and really kind of poetic and pretty," he said. Paradoxically, some will turn to high-priced designers so they can look as if they're not spending lots of money, he predicts.

» Less-expensive workout plans and getting back to basics are two of the American Council on Exercise's top 10 trends of 2009, as reported by WebMD.com -- along with boot-camp workout programs and tech-driven workouts.

» As during the Great Depression, upbeat music and dance halls will be popular inexpensive forms of entertainment . People "want to go out and play and laugh it up and dance," said Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute, told The Associated Press.

» Less money means fewer new applications in social media , such as Twitter and Facebook. Instead, writes IT professional Sarah Perez in a ReadWriteWeb.com article, people using such social-networking programs will spend 2009 figuring out how to integrate the applications they have into their lives.

spmeans@sltrib.com