Most frugal cities in America: San Jose, NYC, and LA top the list

Apparently frugal is the new cool. The Great Recession has wrought miraculous spending changes on the once profligate denizens of the pricey coastal cities that are also the cultural lead dogs for America's spending pack. That's the clear and obvious takeway from a year-over-year discretionary spending comparison released on September 15 by personal finance website Mint.com.

The list was topped by three cities that are notable for their regular perches among the most expensive places in the country to reside, namely, San Jose (27 percent drop in discretionary spending), New York City (-26 percent), and Los Angeles (-25 percent).

For some reason, Mint.com also broke out Brooklyn as a separate city (perhaps there are some "Welcome Back, Kotter" fans at Mint HQ) and boy did those Park Slope mommies tighten their cargo pants web belts, with the poorer cousin to Manhattan clocking a whopping 28 percent decline in discretionary spending.