We can all use a little extra money from time to time, whether it's for that new "Plasma Television" or simply to pay off a few debts, and the easiest way to "get" a little extra money is to "save" money on a monthly basis. Saving doesn't have to be difficult, and the following tips are great for people of all ages and all income levels...if you read carefully, you'll find your bank account has that extra "padding" it needs in no time!

1. EAT AND DRINK AT HOME. You would be surprised how much money is wasted every day on "convenient" food and drink products. If you think about it, a cup of coffee at any convenience store or specialty coffee shop will cost anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00...how many POTS of coffee do you suppose you could make at home for $3.00? Using this money saving tip, which was as simple as remembering to bring a soda from home or pack a lunch, saved me $275.00 in one month!

2. PLAN YOUR TRIPS TO THE GROCERY STORE. The grocery store is a veritable obstacle course of "impulse buys". My mother taught me this money saving tip, as I had fallen into a rut of visiting the grocery store at least twice a week; the idea is simple...plan your trips to the store. Write out a weekly "meal plan" and make sure you have the necessary ingredients for these meals (including snacks, packed lunches, etc.), you need not buy more. It took some getting used to, but now I only shop once every two weeks, saving $150.00 to $200.00 per month!

3. SHOP THE SALES AND STOCK UP WHEN YOU CAN. Growing up, I was never a "sale shopper"...not only was it tedious and time consuming, but it made me feel "cheap". Still, some years back I realized that by buying whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I was wasting a good amount of money that I could otherwise spend on other things. A good example of this rule is soda; a regularly priced 12-pack runs $5.00 to $7.00, but there are often sales that are as good as two 12-packs for $5.00...that's a 50% savings! Using this method I save anywhere from $100.00 to $150.00 per month.

4. NAME BRANDS AREN'T NECESSARILY BETTER, AND THEY COST MORE! In any store, you will find "name brands" and "store brands". The store brands are usually close if not identical in terms of ingredients to the name brands, and they always cost much less. Take "Tylenol", for instance...a bottle might cost you $6.00, but the store brand (which is exactly the same) might only be $4.00. Sure there may be some things that you can't

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