21. I do all of my own investing online. It is so much cheaper than a brokerage firm and I have all the control.

22. I use a credit union and 4 banks for checking, savings accounts and CD's. None charge any kind of fee and if I use their ATM machines, I pay no fees for that either. I think once over the years I have used an ATM other than my banks. The fees were atrocius!

23. I wash my own car with the bucket method. I soap it up and then rinse off with the hose. I dry it with an old towel. I wax it myself twice a year. It is so much more inexpensive than the car wash and it gives me some cheap exercise.

24. I never pay for movie rentals or for us to go to the movies. I get these free through rebates.

25. I never buy junk food at the theater. I bring water for us and a snack in my purse.

26. We do eat out once a month but I use coupons and GC's won on Reward TV most of the time. When we do splurge, we spend $100.'s but we enjoy it and don't worry about it.

27. I never waste food. I plan meals around leftovers. I am not going to spend all the time and effort to get a deal and then throw it in the garbage. So I do a lot of meal planning.
28. I put all refund and survey checks along with a large savings deposit in the bank every month. I put it in the account that pays us 3% interest. When I get over a certain amount, I invest it. I like to keep at least 30% of our net worth in cash. Especially in this economy and at our age.

29. I do all TMF rebates especially the Walgreens ones that end up being free and paying me 10% more. I turn this money into other GC's for gift giving. I also do the reward programs for the same purpose and for everyday expenses such as eating out or gasoline or clothing purchases.

30. I NEVER pay full price for anything. I like to save at least 65-75% on groceries if not more. And clothing and other items I try to find at 50% off. I check the Goodwill once a month for any kind of bargain. Especially books that I can read and then resell on E-bay. It is amzing how much money a month you can clear doing this.

31. I don't keep clutter. I either get rid of it at a garage sale or sell it on E-bay.
This way I don't have to buy seconds of things because I can't find the first.

32. I make the majority of my greeting cards on the computer. I get card paper thru rebates for the printer ribbons. Any store bought cards are free! I turn my empty printer ribbons in at Office Max for free printer paper. I use both sides of the sheet when I can whether it be for grocery or other lists. I reuse envelopes(for coupons etc) that come in junk mail.

33. I use free after rebate or cheap wrapping paper or I have been even known tro make my own with white paper and stamps. I buy Christmas paper for pennies after Christmas.

34. I now make sure that I always have $ .23 stamps on hand for the extra ounces on mail.

35. I use my charge accounts but always pay them in full when the bill comes in.

36. I will buy coupons or bargain packages online but only if I will save 60-70% more than they cost.

37. I keep my pantry going with doubled coupons so that I am never paying full price for anything. Even when I am stocked for about 6 months like I am now, I will get the Freebies.

38. I track every penny we spend with computer software. I put all receipts in a basket till I enter them.

39. We pay all bills electronically that give us a discount for doing so. This also saves us stamps and envelopes every month.

40. I repair clothing when it needs it so as not to lose the whole item.

41. I spend the time to take good care of everything we own so as not to replace it as often-whether it be an appliance, shoes, or a piece of clothing.

42. I am always figuring out in my head whether something is a good deal or not. When I write a grocery item on a list, I first think about whether I can make it cheaper. I like doing the math!
43. A biggie for me: Stay out of the stores! If you don't see it, you don't need it!
And to go along with that, throw out most catalogs when they come in. I only keep the JC Penney catalog to use as a comparison for prices.

44. I track what our meals actually cost us each day and I spend no more than $150.-200. a month on food. And a lot of months it is evene cheaper than this. I am always trying to lower the figure.

45. I try to only shop in the markets and stores in my County because there is no tax on food. If I go 2 blocks up the street to the next County I pay tax on food.

46. We do our own yardwork- weeding, trimming etc. I also try to only plant perrenials so as to not waste money on annuals. I am in the process of planning a graden in the side yard in the afll for a lot of our vegetables and herbs. I am going to grow then in pots. I have found that Big Lots sells the huge pots for 1/3 of the price that I have paid at Home Depot. So I am stocking up on those. Big Lots has a huge garden dept. with lots of goodies.

47. DH is going to make Precious(our cat) a cat house out of old sonatube and old carpet. They sell for $350. at Petsmart.

48. DH is volunteering at the Heart Institute. We had to pay for the clothing he needed for his uniform which for most people would be tax deductible. Also he would get .36 a mile for all his volunteer works. However we always take standard deduction, but we will track it this year just to see if it makes a difference. Every day that DH volunteers there which will be 4 hours once a week, they give him a $3.00 voucher. He can use it in the cafeteria for a meal or drink or in the gift shop. Since he will only be there 4 hours, he will probably not eat. He will use them for paperback books. He is a voracious reader.

49. We spend about $3000. a year on trips back East between airfare, hotel rooms, and rental cars. Some years it is more, some years less. We enjoy seeing family so consider it a necessity. We do look for the cheapest fares and then upgrade with miles to First Class. I always try to get airmiles on our favorite airline for the rentals and hotel rooms also.

50. Right now I buy my produce at the produce market. I only buy what is cheap and in season.