recessionista
n. A person who dresses stylishly on a tight budget.
Etymology
Examples
2008
A recessionista is a modern sort of girl who is trying to survive the credit crunch the best she can. We're all recessionistas now.
—Ann Marie Hourihane, “There's money on it being a bad time to get divorced,” The Irish Times, July 14, 2008
2008
She's superstylish, always able to buy a round of drinks and still seems to be wearing a new outfit every time you see her.

She's a recessionista, that New York marvel who's a magnet for a good deal. And in this economy, she's got a lot to teach us. …

Finney agrees that aside from knowing where to find the best discounts, making better use of what you have is a key trait of the true recessionista.
—Eloise Parker, “Frugal fashion: New Yorkers learn to look good for a lot less,” Daily News (New York), July 13, 2008
2008 (earliest)
When the barman asks for the second time whether I d like to see the menu, I finish up my glass of tap water and take my leave. He could have at least given me some peanuts. So much for the idea of recession chic.
—Leslie Ann Horgan, “Can you live like the boom during a bust? We challenged our writer to become a recessionista,” Daily Mail, May 31, 2008
Notes
Indeed, to veterans of the front — anybody who was in New York in 1977 or 1991 — New York's pro-recessionites must sound like the people who hope for a nor'easter to wash ashore, just to see what kind of havoc gets wreaked on the coast. They're like the people who wanted Ross Perot to win, just to see … what a really crazy, kooky White House would be like.

"That's an ignorant little dream they have!" Mr. Breslin said of New York's recessionistas.
—Jason Gay, “Embracing the Recession!,” New York Observer, February 12, 2001