17. Go veggie. Pile on the beans, lentils, pasta or rice and have vegetarian dinners twice a week. You'll shave about $15 a week, or $780 a year off your grocery bill.
18. Shop at discount grocery stores. They may not have exotic olive bars, and you'll have to bag your own groceries, but you can save big-time by going the no-frills route -- about 15 per cent to be precise. That's about $20 on a weekly $135 grocery trip, which bags you $1,040 over 12 months.
19. Be your own brewmaster. Wine kits at do-it-yourself stores make it easy to bottle your own Barolo. It costs about $100 for 30 bottles of wine, or just over $3 a bottle. If you normally buy five bottles of wine a month at $10 each, you'll save $400 a year. If you're a beer drinker who goes through six cases of 24s a year, it would cost about $210. Make your own and you'll pay only $130, a savings of $80 a year. Total savings for alcohol: $480.
20. Opt for potluck. Inviting friends for dinner? Share the load and lessen the expense by making it potluck. Make the main dish yourself and have others bring the rest. You could easily save yourself $25 on food and have more energy to be a great host. If you host six dinners a year, that's a savings of $150.
21. Pack your java. You don't need to forgo your daily coffee habit, just make it at home and put it in a vacuum flask, instead. If you spend $3 on take-out coffee five days a week, that's $780 a year; make coffee at home and you'll pay about 30 cents a cup, or $78 for the year. Wake up to a savings of $702 -- more than enough to finance a fancy vacuum flask with change to spare.
22. Get some rabbit ears. No one on her deathbed ever regrets not watching more "Judge Judy." If you can live without cable TV (minimum $25 a month), you can bank $300 a year. (Or reduce your 70-channel extended package, $45, to basic cable and save $240 a year.)
23. Simplify birthdays. Who says kids' birthday parties have to rival the Oscars? Skip the pony rides, store-bought theme cake, expensive paper plates and loot bags. Have a home party or rent the local pool for a couple of hours and shave $100 off the party payout. With two kids you are $200 ahead.
24. Get thrifty. Cruise the aisles at Value Village or your local secondhand shop. You're apt to find name-brand buys for yourself and your kids. If you normally spend $600 a year to outfit your child, you could do it for $250 instead. Annual saving (per person): $350.
25. Hit the garage sales. Save on everything from books and toys to clothes and bikes. The key is to buy only essentials and not loads of stuff just because it's a bargain. It's a cinch to save $100 on household purchases if you check out these sales twice a year.
26. Shop with a strategy. Plan your trips to the mall so you go with a purpose and avoid the impulse spending. If you normally make 10 trips to the mall a year and spend $50 on impulse buys each time, you could be saving $500.
27. Wait for the video. A family of four can pay as much as $48 for tickets and $25 for food and drinks during a night out at the movies. Rent a video ($5) and make your own popcorn instead, and you'll save $408 if you would normally go to the show six times a year.
Page 3 of 4 -- Do you spend too much at the movies? Find easy ways to save cash with other fun ways to stay entertained on page 4
