How to Stretch Your Dollar

10 ways to stretch your dollar

Learn Ways to Live More Frugal

I remember days of my youth, and slightly embarrassed I'm admitting I survived the 1970’s – a time when we had to drink powdered milk and Grandma complained about the price of coffee and sugar.

Today’s tough economy, rising unemployment, and credit crisis have economists predicting we will be in a recession thru 2009 and possibly longer.

The kids are not drinking powdered milk yet, so use these 10 simple steps will help to stretch your dollar

1. Stop buying convenience foods. Cooking saves money so whats wrong with cookingat home. Reusing and stretching the leftovers is a skill grandma taught me well. Left over roast becomes French-dip sandwiches the next night; a leftover turkey becomes soup as well as turkey salad for lunches during the week.
2. Eliminate soft drinks, specialty coffee drinks and save the cash for something better. These products are not nutritious, full of empty calories and chemicals, and are quite costly over time. A pot of coffee is a fraction of the cost of a coffee mocha or a latte, and a single serving of soda-pop at the fountain costs more than a liter of soda at the grocery store.
3. Coupons, rebates, and sales – use them and make them work together. Use a coupon with an item on sale – it's amazing how much you can save. For example: Saltine Crackers on sale for $2, normally $3, manufacturer coupon for $1.50 off. That means that $3 box of crackers now costs $.50.
4. Rebates and online promotional codes – be the bargain huntress and use them. They come in handy and you never know when you find something on sale and the rebate coupon can save you lots of money. Use them as often as possible.
5. Save fuel and plan all errands. Plot a route on a map. Our car is fuel efficient but by planning our outings, we became even more “fuel efficient”
6. TV can be over rated – drop unused cable and pay stations. Reading the newspaper and getting news from the internet, newspaper, at work or the library is highly efficient – in my example, we have more time to read and talk, play games with one another.
7. Timer regulated thermostat – we set the temp to 55 while at work and during the night, and up when we are home on weekends and during the weekday evenings. When the weather is warmer, we just turn off the furnace and dress in layers when we are cold.
8. Clothes line – hang clothes to dry and reduce power consumption via the clothes dryer. We now hang our clothes to dry and save considerable amount of money plus, our clothes smell fresh and reminds me of my days of youth at Grandma's.
9. A container garden or small garden by the patio – growing your own vegetables is fun, and extremely rewarding and tasty. We always have fresh tomatoes, basil, sage, rosemary and garlic.
10. Use the oven for heat. After using my oven for cooking I always leave the door open and let the heat flow into the kitchen, heating the room and it thrills me to not hear the heater kick on.

There are so many other ways to reduce the nickle and diming of your budget - it adds up. Be clever and conscientious about where you spend money, how you utilize energy resources, what you need vs what you want. Often those wants are not needs and quickly you can see the differences in your overall budget. Be proactive about your budget and reap big savings.

Did you know that cheap is the new chic? Read CNN's March 4, 2009 article "In a recession, cheap is chic" explaining this new trend that's becoming a fashion.

Check out these sites and search the Internet for ideas, tips, and find popular money-saving suggestions.