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I consider frugality an art form and a religious conviction. My upbringing included the adage, "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." Recycling and reusing just about everything was learned at my mother's knee and she is still a master of the art!

My faith instructs me that all things are gifted by God and so I am compelled to be a good steward of my gifts. [The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man. (Psalm 115:16)]

My limited income implores me to be judicial in my spending decisions. Even when my income was more than adequate allow to me to live quite comfortably, I found great satisfaction in coupon saving totals and resisted paying full price for anything, just on general principle!

You may think that saving a few dollars a week won't make any difference in your life over the long run. Before you decide against hopping on board this program, let's do a little math. If you manage to save $100 a month the first month and every month for 12 months, then the second month save an additional $100 every month for the rest of the year, and so on: you will have saved $7,800 at the end of 12 months.

Just to drive my point home, I've included a fairly realistic example of how small changes can equal substantial savings, and the prices I used are probably low. Start out slowly! You don't have to make all these changes at once. In fact, you'll be more like to make the changes if you introduce additional changes gradually.

Example - Skip fast food 1x a week for your family of four (2 adults and 2 children)

Medium Value Meal avg. cost: $6.50 x 2 = $13; Kid's meal avg. cost: $3.50 x 2 = $7 = Total saved per trip: $20

The average American family eats fast food, delivery meals or takeout meals several times a week. If you eliminate 1 fast food meal a week you'll save $80.00 a month using the example above. Over the course of a year, you will have saved $960!

Not convinced? KTRK-TV/DT conducted a shopping trip for 14 items. "The national brands cost us $41.54, while the generic products cost $27.47. That's a savings of $14. Remember, we're talking about the exact same shopping list with only 14 items . . . Many of the same ingredients in the better known national brands are also in the contents of their generic counter parts."

I'm sure your grocery list includes more than 14 items, but you can extrapolate the savings for your own grocery list! This one easy change can net you $728 savings over the course of a year!

Lather, rinse, don't repeat -

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