This paper looks at how Russian households change their spending when they face unexpected drops in income. The researchers studied data from 1994 to 1998, a time when Russia had two big economic crises. They found that when a household's income suddenly drops by 10%, they tend to spend 7-11% less on food and other everyday items. This shows that Russian households don't follow the usual idea that people save money for the future. Instead, poorer households tend to cut back on spending and save more when they face income shocks.