Although separated by miles, occupations and responsibilities, both are symbolic of the same problem: What do you do when your money doesn't go as far as you need it to?

One is set in the crowded hearing room of the Legislative Services Building just off State Circle, with wood-paneled walls and microphones bent in front of stern and powerful people. The other is in the bustling food aisles of a Wal-Mart about 20 miles away in Glen Burnie, where a mother hunts for bargains, her two young children sitting in a shopping cart.

In the wood-paneled room, Gov. Martin O'Malley, Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot are debating how to cut $75 million from an already tight state budget.

In the Wal-Mart, Christie Kramer, who lives in Severna Park, has decided it makes more sense to shop for food at the discount store than closer to home.

Even though gas prices are hardly ebbing, the prices at Wal-Mart - which include $3.40 for a gallon of milk - still make the whole trip cheaper. Of course, Ms. Kramer and her two kids, Chloe, 8, and Sophia, 2, don't always take the car. The family purchased bikes for trips to the pool or the movie store.

The owner of a hair salon that took an $11,000 loss last year, Ms. Kramer has had to restructure how stylists pay for their spaces and almost moved the business from a commercial building to her own home. After all, how much can customers pay for bloated electricity bills before they just stop coming?

"(The economy) has been really rough on everybody," she said. "It's insane. It really, truly is."

Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation, according to a U.S. Census report released last year. Anne Arundel ranks as its fifth-richest county, with a median household income that jumped from $71,961 in 2005 to $79,160 in 2006.

But across all spectrums of the region, residents are adjusting their behavior to tougher economic times. People drive less, eliminate or consolidate vacations, buy food in bulk and stay home on the weekends. It's a time when even a modest personal windfall - the stimulus checks being sent out from the federal government - is just as likely to wind up paying down a mortgage or credit card as a new television.

This past week, reporters from The Capital fanned out to see how people are adapting. For example, new applications for carpools formed by the Arundel Regional Transit Management Association have more than doubled over the same period last year.

More drivers also are hopping onto the Maryland Transit Administration's commuter bus service. Last month, the bus running from Annapolis to the New Carrollton Metro Station in Prince George's County saw a 15 percent increase over May 2007 ridership. The bus from Kent Island to downtown Washington, D.C., averaged 66 more passengers in one month.

Other snapshots of economic troubles include:

The Maryland Seafood Festival was canceled in April. A major fundraiser for the county, the 42nd annual festival was called off when the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce projected attendance and revenue would have fallen by more than 20 percent.

Students at Anne Arundel Community College have begun to carpool and are encouraged by school officials to cluster their classes on fewer days to minimize driving.

Engineering major Tarek Alam was paying so much to fill the tank of his 2008 Toyota Sequoia SUV - about $110 a week to drive the 18 miles from his Crofton home to school - that he actually stopped driving. About a month ago he picked up a 1992 Toyota Camry that costs just $35 to fill up, and now the SUV gathers dust in his driveway.

Summer camps are holding strong at the Bay Theatre Company in Annapolis, but it is having problems attracting actors and teachers. Bay is a professional company, and some performers in the past have traveled a long way to take the stage, said Lucinda Merry-Browne, one of the founders.

The Gold's Gym on West Street has seen a spike in cancellations, although Jeff Dibler, the operations manager, said it's hard to tell how much the economy has influenced the situation.

More customers have started to pay month-to-month rather than shelling out lump sums, he said, and the gym is offering 25 percent off memberships to attract "people who are watching their wallets."

Construction workers are buying motorcycles to commute, leaving their big trucks and equipment on site to save gas money, said Michael Patrick, the sales manager at Harley-Davidson of Annapolis.

There has been a 20 percent increase in new riders over the past year, Mr. Patrick said. The expanding client base includes lawyers, doctors and an attorney for a Supreme Court justice.

Robert Stewart, a rising senior at St. John's College from near Greenville, N.C., is feeling the pinch and barely making rent even though he works at the Mitchell Gallery on campus and at the Hammond-Harwood House. College students are having a harder time finding summer jobs this year.

"A lot of restaurants aren't doing the business they were, so there's not even dishwashing jobs available," he said.

So far, crabs are selling well for Fred Baxter at Mr. B's Seafood in Stevensville. This weekend, large crabs are selling for $235 per bushel and medium crabs for $150 per bushel, but he is keeping an eye on jittery customers.

"People don't have to buy crabs and shrimp and lobster. They have got to buy staple foods," Mr. Baxter said. "Crabs are now a luxury food."

Business has been down 10 to 15 percent from last year at Northwoods Restaurant in Annapolis, and owner Russell Brown is trying to keep costs down. Mr. Brown makes sure burners and sinks get turned off to save on utilities and has turned to Sam's Club to buy his produce and staples like milk, butter and paper supplies.

"You have got to cut corners where you can," he said.

As the housing market cools, George Matthews, the owner of A-1 Mortgage in Annapolis, said he is using his "down time" by taking classes to become a real estate broker on the side. He heard of one broker who left the business to "sell shoes."

Toyota has slowed down its shipments of pickup trucks to the Koons Toyota Truck Center on West Street, and the lot is offering bigger rebates for the vehicles. Customers have been incredulous to find out the resale value of trucks and SUVs are below expectations.

"It's all because of gas and the economy," said Koons sales associate Glenn Church.

Sluggish growth

There isn't one singular explanation for why the economy is struggling and why people are feeling the pressure from all sides.

There was the falling housing market, corresponding with the implosion of risky mortgages, and at the same time oil availability shrank and made everything from the price of gas to milk increase. Meanwhile, creditors started shirking from anything even remotely resembling risk. Consumer confidence fell this month to its lowest point since 1992 and the Federal Reserve has started to worry about inflation.

And the separation between national and international markets is eroding, said Dr. Joseph Cater, the president and chief economist for Market-Economics in Annapolis.

"All of these multiple factors … come to influence the business on 100 Main St. as well as the house next to 100 Main St.," he said. "Yes, it would be a perfect storm … We are becoming aware there are a lot more perfect storms."

Can the economy get better soon? Based on Maryland's affluent status as the richest state in the nation, a burgeoning biotechnology sector and its proximity to the federal government, elected officials are searching the horizon for a break in the clouds.

"We are one of the stronger state economies in the nation, and that's why I believe we're going to come out of this downturn more quickly than other states," Gov. Martin O'Malley said recently.

But that's a fairly optimistic assessment, according to Mr. Cater. After all, the state hasn't been hitting its targets for the sales tax.

"Despite relative wealth, consumers weren't spending," he said. "That was a targeting sign two years ago."

Maryland does have a good base with the federal government, which provides direct jobs and contracting work, Mr. Cater said, but those sectors won't spur the growth needed to counteract the slowdown. Outside of defense work, most areas have, at best, stayed the same, with research grants drying up.

The economy is going to be "very slow going," he said.

"You begin to see people are changing," Mr. Cater said. "Instead of buying a steak, I'll buy a hamburger."

Staff Writers Earl Kelly, Theresa Winslow, Elisabeth Hulette, Pamela Wood, Tim Ebner, Erin Cox, Shantee Woodards, Katie Arcieri, E.B. Furgurson III, Bill Brink, Ryan Fox and Scott Daugherty contributed to this report.