Article: times are tough but folks are starting to loosen the purse strings.(Business)

As they watched stocks rally last month, Matt Rizzetta and his fiancee, Daniela Papandrea, loosened up their wedding and home renovation budgets.

They're springing for fancier flowers and seafood as well as chicken. They'll spend two extra days on their honeymoon in Greece. And they're getting granite countertops installed in their kitchen in their new house.

Shoppers tired of fretting about every expense are starting to treat themselves again - just a bit - amid tentative signs that the economy might be stabilizing. These splurges - dining on steak instead of hamburger or buying a coveted handbag - are providing a little relief to businesses that are ...

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