GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ever get the feeling the weak economy is having more of an impact on your family than others?

It isn't.

For more than a month, people across the Upstate area have been sharing their economic woes with News 4.

"The phone really quit ringing, and our lunch rush we weren't full everyday. We would have days where we would have no lunch rush," said Travis McCauley, owner of Smokin' Stokes Barbeque on Augusta Road in Greenville.

McCauley and his wife, Shannon, told News 4's Tim Waller that restaurant customers are eating out less and catering jobs have dried up.

In addition, the McCauleys said that the cost of running their business has nearly doubled because of rising food and fuel prices. Vendors are adding surcharges to every shipment of supplies, they said.

Travis and Shannon said that they have tightened their belts, but are still having to rely on credit cards to make ends meet.

"This year, we are going to give it everything we can," Shannon said. "If it doesn't pick up after this year, we're probably going to try to sell and get out."

For Michael and Kalani Foster of Easley, the end came too soon.

"We were very excited. We were very successful. We thought that we could weather certain storms," Michael said.

The Fosters moved here from Maryland two years ago to open a dollar store on U.S. 123. They had heard that the Upstate economy was strong. But gradually, they say, customer spending came to a halt.

"You could see that their spending habits were changing. And they were changing out of necessity because they were talking about the things that they liked and that they wanted, but were going to wait on," Michael said.

Less than a year after opening, the Fosters were forced to close their store, blaming the closure on an economic downturn.

Their entire life savings was gone.

"You never forget the time you lost everything. But if we ever get to the point where we get to do something like (a store) again, I'm sure we will try," Kalani said tearfully.

If people are more cautious about spending money, Jill Brower is one of them.

"You feel like your life has been cut in half, that you can only live half of it now. That the other half is on hold until gas prices go down, you know," Brower said.

The high cost of gas has especially hurt Brower, who drives her grandchildren long-distance to school every day.

"$300 a week for gas. I have to fill it up every other day," she said.

The Laurens County woman said she is also struggling to afford groceries, medicine and other necessities.

She has already decided not to take a vacation this summer, which her grandchildren were looking forward to.

"To tell your grandkids who look forward to something all year long, 'I'm sorry, it's off,' that kind of hurts, especially as a grandmother," Brower said.

Link: Travis and Shannon McCauley's story on CNN Money.com