National News

Relief on Wall Street over the hard-won passage of a $700 billion bailout package for the financial system apparently hasn't yet trickled down to the pubs, storefronts, car lots and malls of Main Street.

Many Americans spent an uneasy weekend wondering whether the rescue would help in time — or at all — and trying to figure out where next to cut back as the economic screws tighten.

Would financing come through for the new washing machine? Could the old car hold out another year? Would a nice dinner out bust the budget?

"People are afraid," said Linda Morrow, who owns a shoe and handbag store in a Dallas mall. "People basically don't know what the future will bring. They're afraid to spend. They want to see what the bailout will do."

In more than two dozen interviews with The Associated Press across the country over the weekend, Americans described those concerns, from tighter personal credit to worries about small businesses to doubts about simply making ends meet.

Matt Watson, a 41-year-old sales manager, said his family has cut back on dinners out and is buying generic products.

The other day, he grabbed a $5 bill off his dresser and headed to a Walgreen's drugstore for milk and bread.

"I could not buy milk and bread for $5," Watson said.

The bailout package may get the gears of lending moving again, but it hasn't happened yet.

Last year, Pennsylvania auto dealer Bill Rosado's customers had no trouble arranging financing for the cars and trucks they bought. Banks were lined up to provide cash even for people with a risky credit history.

Those days are gone. A customer with decent credit who might have been approved for 100 percent financing not long ago is lucky to get a loan at all today, and even then the interest rate is almost guaranteed to be higher.

"The people with horrible credit, I can justify saying, 'No more,'" Rosado said. "But this is affecting people whose credit isn't that bad. People with 650 credit scores are being turned down."