Struggling to get by

Weekends at the beach and outings to the desert are over for Angel Weber, who is now struggling to stay on top of a skimpy budget slowly being drained by teeth-gritting prices at the pump.Sue Doyle in the Daily News

To stay afloat, the 60-year-old receptionist shops for groceries at Wal-Mart, shares an apartment and never buys new clothes.

She hasn't been on a vacation in years.

Life was not always so meager for the mother of two who once owned a three-bedroom house in Temecula, belonged to a country club and had a comfortable job in the subprime mortgage industry.