People can't make themselves recession-proof, but there are things they can do at home, at the store and at work to protect themselves when the economy sees a downturn.

"A lot of things we have to do in a recession, we should be doing anyway," said Pam Stalling, executive director at Consumer Credit Counseling of Northwest Indiana. "So when hard times come, we don't panic."

The first thing to do, she believes, is reduce expenses. Stalling has numerous suggestions for how to do that, but they all boil down to one thing: living within one's means.

"A lot of people have HBO, Showtime, but how often do they watch it?" Stalling said. "Go to the library and take out a video, that's what I do."

Just as the current economic slowdown is prompting changes in home budgets, it's sparking some attitude changes in the workplace, according to a World of Work survey commissioned by Randstad, a staffing and benefits agency with nine offices in the Chicago area.

In the one year since the last survey, employees have downsized expectations when it comes to a wide range of workplace perks and benefits, including competitive pay, paid time off and opportunity for advancement.

Some of the steepest declines in expectations came among 20- to 28-year-olds and 29- to 43-year-olds, the so-called Gen Y and Gen X generations.

For Gen Y, the importance of extras like flexible work hours dropped by 20 percent in just one year.

Only three workplace benefits of a dozen surveyed increased in importance to employees between last year and this year. One of those, not surprisingly, was job security.

"You have to understand where the opportunities still do lie," said Eric Buntin, Randstad managing director for operations and marketing. "What can I do at work? Can I take on additional responsibility?"

And although the possibility of job cuts during a recession can make people nervous, it's a time when everyone should be keeping their eye on the ball, Buntin said.

"You have to still be looking at how you can contribute to your organization and keep your attention on the work at hand," Buntin said.

It's also critical for employees to make sure they make connections across generational divides, Buntin said.

If worse comes to worse, and a person loses a job, connections can become a valuable part of someone's job-search network, he said.

If a person loses a job, he or she will be more able to weather the storm if preparations were made, Stalling said.

It may seem nearly impossible in our debt-laden society, but people should have an amount equal to three months' pay or salary in savings, Stalling said. That way, they have a cushion on which to fall back when the unemployment check just won't cover the monthly bills.

In good times, people should save for other things, including an account especially set up for periodic expenses, such as car insurance and property taxes, another for retirement and another for children's college education.

"What you need to do is what you are supposed to be doing in the first place," Stalling said. "Your are not supposed to live beyond your means."