Americans would rather change what they eat than give up their cell phones, downloads or digital TV services, according to a new survey conducted for the American Institute of CPAs by Harris Interactive. The good news is that only a small percentage of those surveyed said they would cut contributions to their retirement accounts.

Harris polled 1,005 adults about what action they would take in a financial pinch. Forty-one percent of adults said they would cut back on eating out, 20 percent said they would cut off cable TV, 8 percent said they would end cell phone service and another 8 percent said they would stop downloading songs and digital products.

Only a small number would take actions that could hurt their long-term financial well-being, with 2 percent saying they would stop contributing to their retirement accounts, 1 percent saying they would skip utility payments and 1 percent saying they would put off paying their rent or mortgage payments.