Cut your spending by $500 a month

Shop once a week.
The more trips you make to the store, the likelier you are to buy on impulse because you see more tempting items. About two-thirds of purchases are unplanned; cut that in half to save $143 a month (if you spend $100 a week on groceries).

Give up the bottle.
Stop drinking bottled water and instead buy a filter for your faucet (about $34, plus $25 for replacements). If your family consumes 12 gallons a month, you'll save about $15.

Eat what's ripe.
Out-of-season produce costs 20% to 50% more than it does when it's in season. For a list of what's in season when, go to fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. Estimated savings: $7 a month.

Differentiate between clean and dirty.
Organic produce costs $1 to $2 more than the conventional kind. Cut your pesticide intake by going organic on the dirtiest produce (apples, lettuce) and conventional on the cleanest (kiwi, tomatoes). For a list of clean and dirty fruits and veggies, go to foodnews.org. Savings: $18 a month.

Visit your local cobbler

Last year's Cole Haans are so ...
in this year. Rather than shell out $150 or more each season to buy a new pair of good shoes, clean up last year's kicks. Your local shoe-repair shop will charge about $10 to fix worn-out heel tips for women. Men can get another year or more out of their dress shoes by replacing the rubber heel and the sole, says veteran cobbler Jim McFarland of Lakeland, Fla. Cost: about $50. If the lady of the house buys four pairs of shoes a year, and the man buys one (at $150 each), you'd save more than $50 a month.

Stretch it out

Look like a million bucks without spending a million by slowing down your personal care regimen.

Go easy on dry cleaning.
Cut the number of trips you make in half: 65% of clothes that are dry cleaned can be washed by hand or machine, says Kathryn Finney, founder of thebudgetfashionista.com. For example, you can put linens in the washer and do most sweaters in cold water by hand (including cashmere and camel hair). Most silks are hand washable too. Exception: bold colors like brick red, deep brown, and navy should still be dry-cleaned.

Do home touchups.
Add at least two weeks to the time between hair coloring appointments ($100 or so a pop) by using over-the-counter products (about $10) from the drugstore to cover up your roots.

Work out for less

Sweat on your high-end health club's StairMaster -- and unwind at the martini bar.

Better: $50-$90
Work out at the YMCA -- there are nearly 3,000 locations throughout the nation.

Best: $0
Free online boot camp whips you into shape at marinecorpsfitness.com.

Step off the gas

You don't have to buy a Prius, trade in your clunker or ride the bus to cut down on the money you spend for gas each month. Just make a few adjustments to your driving habits:

Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving on the highway -- speeding, rapid acceleration and braking -- can lower your mileage by 33%.

Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly above 60 miles per hour. Reining in your speed will save you up to 23%.

Keep tires inflated properly. Check your owner's manual to list your vehicle's proper tire pressure, buy a good dial-type pressure gauge ($8), and check your tires once a week. Keeping them properly inflated can improve your mileage by about 3%.

Empty the trunk. Don't carry around unnecessary items, especially in small cars. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your miles-per-gallon by up to 2%.

Buy ink, not cartridges

Instead of buying new black and color ink cartridges when your computer printer runs low, just get them refilled at your local drug store or shopping mall. After all, you don't buy a new car every time you get low on gas, do you?



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