One of the smartest moves I made was to start eating a simpler diet, and that included making my own salad dressing.  I became interested in "simple food" after reading The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. Not only does it taste better and is healthier, it's much cheaper, too.

I invested in a CSA (community supported agriculture) share. I get great seasonal produce, support a local farmer and get some exercise because I pick my own. I recommend CSAs and farmers markets for saving money, too.

We still buy some from a local chain that makes really good salad dressing (with totally pronouncable and recognizable ingredients). But our two favourites around here are both homemade.

And I love my Sigg water bottle. It was more money upfront than I was used to paying for a water bottle but totally worth it.

We bought our dining room set second-hand through a local used furniture set. We got a nice wood set, including a hutch, for less than we'd pay for the hutch new.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I started making it out of necessity -- my oldest son is allergic to egg and garlic, which means it's virtually impossible to find a commercial brand except for one balsamic vinegar-raspberry blend he's sworn to hate until the day he dies.

And now I don't think I'd go back if I could. Homemade is so simple and so much better. And so lacking in crud you find in commercial.

Another thing I do a lot: Buy the biggest package I will reasonably use in a decade, particularly on meat and cheese. It was hard to sell the husband on this at first, but now he sees how to stretch a roasted chicken for several meals, plus freeze the scrumbles for use in soup later.

Debra Legg
9to5to9

As a sole parent with no financial support except for what I make from my part-time job I've had to be frugal. 

I find that if I do buy salad dressings that they go off before I can finish them. It's dead easy to make them. I also buy my fresh produce at the local farmer's market. It's cheaper than at the supermarket and it lasts longer. I even buy our milk there and it's $1 cheaper per 2 litres than the supermarket.

I'm also a big shopper at the local op shop (thrift store) for many of mine and my son's clothes.

I keep forgetting about E-bay and the craigslist type options though. Thanks for these.

Jen at Semantically driven and Safari suit

Dressing kids gets really expensive, I agree.  Another great place to try is Once Upon a Child, which is a second-hand clothes store for children. 

Many times, you'll find brand new clothes with tags on them, because the kids outgrew them before they had a chance to wear them.  The other day, a friend of mine picked up a great, high-end winter coat for her daughter for $3!

It's also a good place to make a little extra cash by selling them your good condition baby and kids' items such as cribs, strollers, toys and of course, clothes.   I was able to do this with my son's bassinet and baby swing.

To see if they have a Once Upon a Child in your area, try www.ouac.com.  Good luck!

Kristin, author of the Turbo-Mom's Guide to Saving Money without Wasting Time (Aji Publishing, 2009).  www.turbo-mom.com/blog

For me, ditching the Starbucks was a huge cost and time saver.  I make my coffee at home and it tastes exactly the same and by using a thermal cup over and over again - it's good for the environment too.

All the things you've listed above are also ways that all of us can help reduce our consumption which is always a positive for the planet! 

Great tips.  And most of them are green as well as frugal.

Thanks for mentioning the Take Back The Filter campaign.  I'm about to post an update tonight!

Beth Terry http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

I'm always looking for ways to save and I really enjoyed reading your tips.  They are simple things that you can change that will end up saving you a bunch of money in the long run. :)

"Never, Never, Never give up." ~ Winston Churchill

Since I cook for a living, I make salad dressing but also make mayonnaise using a stick blender.  People who hate mayonnaise don't hate flavorful homemade mayonnaise!  Every time it can be different.

I don't wear knockoffs.  At least I don't wear counterfeits because I think it's stealing.  Inspired by is not the same as fake.  What I do do is look at the collections for impressions and then buy pieces I can combine to achieve the impressions I liked.  

Our financial bugaboos here are more energy oriented because energy is much more expensive here.  Do not leave electronics in "ready" condition, but turn them completely off or unplug them when not using them.  Each TV can thus save you euro 30 here per year.  Printers, dvd, stereos all can save you money by being turned off.

Make errand lists so that each trip to one shop can accomplish everything else on that route or near it.  We were recently paying about US $8 per gallon for gas and this really counted.  Lists keep you from running from one side of town to the other and also prevent those oops moments when you are ready to cook supper.  I don't allow those.  If I forgot something, I have to do without it and make something else.  After a while I stopped making those errors!

http://www.judithgreenwood.com/thinkonit/

1. Buy a freezer and keep it filled with bargain buys and with veggies gotten nd frozen in the summer. I bought a 9 cubic foot freezer this year when my state had a no-sales-tax-weekend. I've been stocking it since with farm-stand goodies purchased in quantity.

2. Home made soup -- easy, nutritious, lower sodium, tastier than canned.

3. leftover veggies? odds and ends of fresh veggies in the fridge? Boil them all together, and freeze them and use them later for soup stock.

4. Upscale thrift shops - and even the traditional ones... don't be proud -- see it as a treasure hunt.

5. Ebay -- check there before you check the stores.

6 *** FREECYCLE!!! **** Here is what the site says:
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,618 groups with 6,024,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!

I love Freecycle. My beloved rescue dog, Zoe, came to me through Freecycle..purebred, adorable, free. Mostly, they offer merchandise, however -- I swear, wait long enough and you could furnish a whole house.
-- ~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool

In an effort to reduce spending and increase efficiency, I recently (gulp) cancelled my monthly cable service. And I must admit, it was one of the greatest things I could have done for myself. I am reading, writing and living life much more in just a few weeks. And, instead of sitting aimlessly in front of the televesion watching trash tv, I log on to my laptop to watch only my favorite shows. It's a great way to shave the financial fat and open up a world of new possibility.

This is kind of a different outlook on frugality, but check online for easy sweepstakes and contest. Most are done with little to no effort. Saw some postings about not wearing knock off items and you can always find designer giveaways online. Did a search online for designer bag contests. Ended up finding a site giving away Burberry bags and you don't have to give up any info. You can go to all kinds of online sweepstakes site to score free stuff, but search "Burberry contest" and see what I mean.

And how much do you really need? Food, mostly vegetables, some fish, meat once a week, water, a walk, a library, basic clothing, heating, a room of your own? A monastery might be a good role model for what's necessary.

Wildflowers and snowballs are free!!

Seal-A-Meal is my friend!

I'm too sloppy to get it to work with sauces -- I can those now -- but it's great for those big hunks of cheese I buy plus leftovers. Especially the little dabs that aren't enough to do anything with. I Seal-A-Meal 'em and pull them out later for some of that easy, nutritious soup Mata H was talking about or a casserole. I rarely throw food away when I'm diligent about doing this. I just have to get back to being diligent.

Debra Legg
9to5to9

Starting tomorrow, my husband and I are going to try to buy nothing new for 3 months (except for groceries). A friend of ours did this awhile back and back then I thought she was a little crazy, but with 2 kids and a newfound necessity to cut back on expenses, we're going to be trying this. I'm actually kind of excited to scope out our local second-hand shops, craigslist, freecycle and the like. i kind of assume that we'll end up with less unecessary purchases overall. I admit, however, it helps that we bought the kids' Christmas presents early this year. :)

We're also a no cable household as well and we've tried to stop eating out except perhaps once or twice a month. We've been using filtered water for awhile now too. Coffee shops, however, are our big indulgence that we're finding hard to part with.

I really like the salad dressing idea. Thanks Maria.

Nina Moon

http://charlieandnina.com