when i was working, making some oven-ready meals on the occasional weekend helped us to eat less take-out crap during the week. there's lots of different dishes that you can make but casseroles are good oven-ready meals of course, and cheap, too. you could even invest in a small baking dish-for-one and leave out any meat, voila! ... everyone's happy...maybe

i didn't spend all weekend, every weekend cooking mind you (i'm not that selfless :p) but even just one meal helps, though. it takes an hour tops, but i remember how that hour during the week can feel hyuoooge. when the mood struck, i'd make lots of stuff and freeze it.

I also round my checkbook up. If I spend $25.15 or whatever I will just put down $26.

I buy in bulk back when I'm back home in TN. I only grocery shop every month or every two months most of the time and I never eat out. I buy raw ingredients and cook/bake most of the time. I freeze meals as well.

My local grocer also runs a promotion every week where you can get certain items "10 for $10" and if it's something I'm interested in I will go and buy 10 or 20 of the item(s), etc.

It's not that I'm so concerned with saving as it is that's the habits I practice and have for some time now. I guess I'm getting old and set in my ways ;) lol

Buy a programable thermostat. It does the work that you might forget to do.

Wash your laundry in cold water. With the miraculous "New and Improved" laundry detergent out now you don't have to use hot water for that "ground in dirt". The only thing I might wash in warm/hot water now is Mr. Lixy's work stuff if he has grease or diesal fuel all over them.

When you purchase the big ticket items (ie: fridge, washer, dryer) make sure it's an Energy Star product.

Those compact bulbs can save lotsa dough in a long run but are initially pricey. Do one room, or just one lamp, at a time.

Or you could just go the whole hog, sell up the house and car and just go live in the wilds, living off the land, might be a tad extreme but just think of the savings!

Or you could try turning off all your electrical stuff at night instead of leaving on stand by, which still uses a fair amount of power. Have you thought about changing car to one that gets more MPG, Or if thats a step too far, just making sure that the car is fully serviced, the tyres are the right pressure, your not carrying any weight you dont have to and try not to use the A/C since they all cause you to do less Miles per gallon,

Oh in supermarkets dont just buy 2 of something cause you can save 50cents or something, only to throw it out, just buy wot you need from a shopping list!