I bought a bigger freezer to store the 1/2 cow I bought. The cost of the meat and electricity to run the freezer is far cheaper than buying meat at the grocery store. Also the cow I bought is grass-finished which is healthier for my family to eat.

When you shop at warehouse clubs, make sure you bring a calculator to find the per ounce or per pound price. Often the shelves are marked with per lb price for things that are marked per ounce at the grocery so it's nice to have a calculator to re-calculate the unit cost in terms you're more familiar with. You can use the one on your cell phone or bring one with you. The calculator on my phone is a PITA to use so I bring a little cheap one in my bag with me.

I actually keep a little spending diary and write down absolutely everywhere that money goes. Even if the bf took $2.00 for a Gatorade, it went in there. I like doing it because (1) it gives me something to do at work besides work and (2) I can't believe how many times I said "Wow, I spent way too much on that dress" and returned something or saw money leaks that I could easily plug (ex: how dumb it was for me to pay for McDonalds every time I went away for the weekend and starting packing a roadtrip lunch instead).

@calquist: I missed the point here. I spend money on this by buying the journal, but more in time by taking the time to actually do this.

Similar to the Costco insurance example above, I opened a life insurance policy that costs $8/month to get a $30/month multi-line discount on my auto insurance.

Radiant barrier in my attic. I can pay about $300 for foil and install it myself to cut down my heating and cooling bills all year round.

@VA_White: I've wanted a meat freezer for this very reason for so long, but can't convince my roommates to go along with it

Ground source heat exchange (vulgarly called "geothermal") for my HVAC.
Red Wing shoes one time instead of Pay-Less shoes 20 times.

I'm going to spray foam insulate my garage ceiling this summer. My bedroom is directly above it and the cold that comes through is costing in heating bills. Eventually it will pay for itself.

Aldi.

@VA_White: This is a great teaching moment for your kids, too.

I don't know about other grocery stores, but Wegmans (for those in the New York and surrounding states they do business in) has most of their prices online. You can search items and, once you pick your store, will list prices too. So if you happen to have one of those fancy smartphones with the internet while you're out shopping, you can price compare as you go. Then you aren't limited to just what's in the circular. Now if only I had one of those fancy phones. :-)

I buy the Sunday paper ($1.25) to get the coupons, and I print coupons for stuff we actually use from the web. We're also getting ready to buy a small (~7 cubic feet) chest freezer so we can better take advantage of sales.

We're on my parents' Sam's membership, but I think they're going to let it lapse. When they do, we're thinking about getting a Costco membership.

This may sound a little nuts but my gf got a 1 day a week part time job at a 'sandwich / soup / coffee' chain and gets to take home lots of leftover bread products and pre-made sandwiches. It's cut our week day lunch cost to basically zero.

I invested in the Amazon.com prime membership and buy things I use daily (toothpaste, toothbrush, shower gel, etc.) in bulk. in the shower gel example, i get three large bottles of Olay body wash for $18. Which is essentially getting a bottle for free since going to the drug store, they retail for $10 a bottle.

We had a 20 year old water heater that was probably half full of silt. Since we replaced it with the same size, more energy efficient model, my monthly gas bills have dropped by 20%.

I consider the return on my membership in savings when joining a wholesale club. For example -

BJs membership = $45/year
Savings on 1 gallon of milk = $1/week = $52/year

Total savings on JUST milk = $7

They just opened a BJs within 5 miles of my house, making the travel to the club worth the savings. And they're consistently $.05 - $.10/gallon cheaper on gas too.

Oh, I saved $10 this year by joining BJs with their grand opening. :)

Buy ammo, go hunt.

@Necoras: yes, we've been making various home improvements that save energy costs over the long run. And also make our home more pleasant. New water heater and low-flow toilet for one of the bathrooms have both done a lot to cut bills, and provide longer showers and a much nicer-looking bathroom. :)

I find it's often smart to buy more expensive products for their longevity. Cookware is a good example. i.e. I can buy one quality stainless steel sauce pot that will last me, literally, the rest of my life or I can replace a cheap nonstick (ugh) pot every few years for the rest of my life. I find the same goes with furniture (I learned this after replacing broken, less than year old IKEA furniture). Sure, quality, long-lasting material goods aren't always more expensive, but they usually are.

@VA_White: We bought a larger freezer too, and are now killing neighbors for food. We're saving thousands!

Small stuff:

Replaced showerhead with aerating low-flow shower head (aerating means you get the same water pressure with way less water) for $15; cut about 1/4 off our water bill just like that.

Replaced incandescents with compact fluorescents as they burned out (has anyone NOT done this yet?) ... slow but steady decline in power bill, and as my house was built and wired in 1950, lets us put brighter bulbs in our extremely limited number of light fixtures. (The master bedroom had ONE. OUTLET. when we moved in. ONE.)

Bought Smart Strips for computer and TV arrays. [www.smarthomeusa.com] They're expensive, but our first two saved us $6/month or so in electricity, and have more than paid for themselves. And they're good power strips! Actually the convenience of having things self-switch and having those nice, spaced-out plugs holes for wall-wart plugs is so great that I think I might honestly pay for these even without the energy savings.

Freezer and a Cook's Illustrated online subscription. Best money I spent last year for both savings and enjoyment. I'm getting an estimate today for new energy efficient A/C, and I'm looking into doing the windows next year.

@FatLynn:

I have a similar thing going one, the multiple policy discount I get for having my renter's insurance at the same insurer as my auto insurance is worth more than the renter's policy costs.

I save enough on cat litter (almost 50% less than my local Kroger on a per-pound basis) to pay for my Costco membership every year.

Also, my Evernote Pro membership ($45/year) is very useful for storing receipts and tracking expenses. It probably doesn't justify itself just for that (especially since the free version might be enough to get by), but in addition to all of the other useful applications it helps.

My key is to buy things when I don't need them. That is, instead of buying paper towels and soap when Irun out, i buy them in large quantities when they are on sale. I also find that eBay is a great place to get things like expensive hair gel, or batteries for the phone. Again, buy several at the cheaper price

Don't be afraid to haggle. Lots of companies/people will lower their prices if they think you're going to walk away. And if they don't, walk away! You'll be able to find someone to do whatever it is you want done for a lower price.

Additionally, call up your cable company and say that you saw a competing offer that's better and would like to know if they'll match it. Likewise with your cell phone provider. If you're with TMobile and need a 'landline', sign up for their $10/mo VoIP service -- you can keep your existing landline number. We did, and instead of paying $35/mo for a basic landline with no caller ID, no call waiting, etc, we now have a TMobile @Home number that offers caller ID, voicemail, three-way calling, and a host of other features for $10/mo, saving us $25/mo.

Get on managed payment plans with utility companies. They'll take your last year's bills, average them out, and charge you the same flat rate every month. Invaluable if you live in the desert (like we do) and experience 110F+ summers but rarely turn the A/C on in the winters when the weather's more like 75F, plus it goes very well towards having a monthly budget.

Speaking of which, make a budget. It doesn't have to be anything fancy; we have ours in a Google Spreadsheet. We know that our mortgage payment is $x, car payment is $y, etc etc. We allocate some money for fun, money for gasoline, and money for groceries. All the bills are paid, we put money into our savings accounts (earning a measly 2.5%, meh), and we still go out for sushi and horrible renditions of Les Miserables.

@howie_in_az: LMAO! Wow, good one! I mean, it's not that groundbreaking, but it really caught me off gaurd, which did the trick. Thanks

Milk is not always cheaper at Costco. Ours carries 2 gallons for $4.90. The local Albertsons, Associated Foods and Kroger have been running milk at 3 for $5 for the past two months.

Gas is cheaper, on the order of $0.15/gal, plus a 5% rebate on Costco AMEX TrueEarnings.

I did join Sams Club last year to buy a CO/smoke/gas dector for $45 that was $100 everywhere else. Saved $5 immediately.

@cabjf: If you're in the area where there's a Giant Eagle, they have all their coupons online. If you have one of the store membership cards (free) you can browse online for what you need at the grocery store, add those coupons to your account, and they're automatically deducted when you use your card. No need to print anything out. They'll also email you their store circular.(As well as there being a lot of other in-store discounts with use of the card.) Plus your grocery purchases count towards gas discounts.

i do a lot more online shopping now and of course keep a watchful eye on sales tax and shipping/delivery costs.

by using a grocery delivery service with applicable product coupons and sales, i spend only marginally more than i would shopping myself... maybe 2 or 3% more. with non-edible goods, i can save even more.

but here's the kicker... since i'm no longer driving around all over the place price shopping between 3 grocers and countless retailers for all of my goods, i'm spending a LOT less on gas. my fuel consumption has been cut to a third of what i used to consume.

plus... car insurance. my rates are half of what they were as i've been able to qualify for a low-mileage discount.

i save about $40 a week in gas and over $900 a year on insurance.

@cabjf: Most grocery stores don't list prices online unless something has changed since the last time I tried to look that up.

@FatLynn: When I was renting, my renters policy cost around $180 a year, but the multi-policy discount from the insurance company lowered my car insurance $230 a year!

Now as a homeowner, my home and auto are still with the same company which increased my savings about $60 a year on the auto policy. Seeing as how you still need both types of insurance I'm happy with the increase.

@Eyebrows McGee: Eyebrows, I'm in the market for a new water heater, any suggestions?

@VA_White: My parents did this for a few years when our cousins were raising cows for 4-H. A half a cow can feed a family of four for an entire year. Plus, we were giving the money right to my cousin, who eventually paid his way through agricultural college.

@Eyebrows McGee: Note on the fluorescent bulbs - check with your power company to see if they offer rebates on them. Ours was offering $15 rebates on 6 packs of bulbs, effectively making the bulbs $1 each.

The long warm up time (comparative to incandescent) can be a bit annoying until you realize that turning on lights in the middle of the night doesn't result in instant blindness.

I'm just waiting for LED bulbs to come down in price.

@speeddaimon: I asked the same to eyebrows above. I'm in the exact same boat, I'm sure this ancient gas water heater is costing me monthly, any suggestions on a replacement (ie tankless at $800 or a standard one around $400)?

@floraposte: we replaced our windows a few years ago and it was a a literal slap in the face as to how much we were loosing each month with the old single-pane windows.

They more than paid for themselves already.

My roommate and I just subscribed to the Oregonian. We actually just get the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday editions, but it's $13/month. Not bad, and we get all the coupons (and crosswords!) we need.

@Claytons: +1 for that. My wife thought I was nuts since I usually bought nicer, more expensive items (read: only certain things, not designer clothes, etc.). Then I got her a KitchenAid mixer and she hasn't given me a hard time since...

We bought a wood burning insert for our fireplace that will heat the entire house. Wood is always cheaper than heating oil here in New England plus when the power goes out like it did this December we still have heat. Its good disaster insurance too. When the you*know*what really hits the fan in this country, as it might, we are sitting next to the largest forest in the state and I know my family will never be cold.

@VA_White: To the calculator point - write everything down in a shopping diary. Put the item, date, and unit price. You'll start to identify trends, and can move on to strike-price shopping.

It's helped us run our family of four on about $100/week for food, diapers, toiletries, gas for cars, etc.

@pb5000: A tankless will save you fuel costs by not paying to keep a tank of water heated all night & other times you don't need it. Also they make it nearly impossible to run out of hot water, regardless of length of showers.

My husband joined an engineering society for about $100/year. It gives FABULOUS discounts on auto, home and life insurance. Every time I compare rates I find we're saving at least a few hundred $$ per year and it's very good coverage.

@BlackMage is doing the Time Warp agaaaaaaain!!!:

Aldi rocks my socks! We have saved so much in groceries since I started shopping there about 6 months ago. And the food actually tastes better than at the larger chain stores and the bread is fresher and softer. My husband hates going with me because I am always talking about how much money we are saving on each thing and how much whatever I am picking up would cost at Jewel Osco.

@AngrySicilian: That's not nuts at all. People get jobs at stores all the time to get discounted goods. I lost my job last Fall and am considering working at grocery stores for the discount.

@pb5000: Honestly we asked our well-trusted plumber and let him pick for us. We rarely pick out our own plumbing fixtures anymore -- we tell our plumber what we want, show him pictures or print-outs if we're specific, and then ask his opinion. He's always sets us up great.

We had thought about going with a tankless heater and he went through the pros and cons really completely with us, very knowledgeably, and then -- entertainingly -- Consumer Reports had a feature on them a couple months later that said EXACTLY WHAT OUR PLUMBER SAID. Anyway, our plumber suggested a tank would be more money-efficient and energy-efficient for us, looked at our water needs, knows we're very green, gave us a few price points to pick from, and then went and bought an energy-star compliant water heater with good reliability for us and hauled away the old one.

This is why we love Troy the Cat-Loving Plumber. (So called because one of our cats thinks he's a contractor and always wants to HELP the service guys by, like, climbing into the furnace and chasing loose screws and attacking their feet. Our plumber finds this charming as he loves cats.)

@krispykrink: Or know someone who does. I've got a bountiful supply of venison in my freezer thanks to the state's generous bag limits.

@krispykrink: My father-in-law is a hunter and gets a couple of deer a couple of elk and an odd moose every year (and usually a few chickens in trade for hunter ed and gun qualification courses). We rarely buy meat, but the whole family eats like kings all year. Plus, wild meat is lower in fat, far tastier and far healthier than feedlot-fattened beef and force-fed poultry.

I couldn't do it myself, but I really appreciate the meat, and the savings...

Buy quality shoes and clothes instead of the cheap stuff if you can. (Note that quality does not mean trendy!) An LL Bean tshirt is twice the cost of one from Walmart or Old Navy, but it'll last you years instead of months.