We are all pinching pennies these days and everyone I run into is looking for ideas to make the wallet a little fuller with out sacraficing everything. One way is by getting creative with your meal planning and grocerie bill. I found this great site I had to share for creating a meal plan for your family for $5 a meal! Lets face it we can’t all eat top roman all the time and with no real end in site considering new options for your meals may really help the budget and ensure your diet doesn’t go down the drain trying to stay cheap!

I keep a coffee can under the kitchen counter, and every day, or whenever I have change in my pockets or purse, I toss it in there.

My husband’s pockets always seem to be filled with change too, which I find when I’m doing the laundry. That goes in the can as well.

It’s amazing how fast it all adds up, and it’s almost like free money…at least it feels that way. It’s money you don’t really miss. I then take it to a Coinstar machine at the local supermarket, which counts the money quickly and spits out a receipt that I bring to the cashier for cash. Each can is usually about $50-90.

Take that ”free” money and put it in a savings account.  Or, right at Coinstar, you can always redeem your money for gift cards or charitable donations (which you can use for tax credit later!).

It’s ridiculous how much extra we pay for branding and packaging, and how brainwashed we are by advertising. I used to think a well-known brand was better quality. But most generic foods are made by the same companies as the big brands anyway.

I’ve started buying generic food and other products whenever possible and have noticed little difference–except in the savings! Coupled with coupons, I’ve really reduced my grocery bills.

I heard a great little piece of advice while listening to talk radio in the car on Sunday. 

Susan Kaplan, a financial planner and one of the hosts of The Money Show on 96.9, recommends that, whenever possible, you “do it yourself, make it yourself,” whether it’s your own coffee instead of the drive-thru, your own lunch instead of getting it to go, washing your own car or whatever else you can think of.

She says, and I’m sure it’s true, that it’s all the little things we spend our money on, versus the big things, that keep us from having what we want or getting what we need.

The problem with spending money on little things is that we never get to the big things that make life sometimes feel special, such as vacations or a nice outfit, because we’ve frittered it away.

So my new motto is make it yourself . . . and let’s see how much we can save rather than waste. All those cups of coffee and drive-thru car washes might be keeping us from that dream cabin on the lake.

Suze Orman has the best advice for women on managing their money. If you’re not familiar with her, I highly recommend checking out her web site and/or TV show.

I know the topic is intimidating, but you’ll feel inspired and empowered to “take control of your life by taking control of your finances” after hearing what she has to say.

Here’s another little tip I just discovered for saving a little every day. All those text messages can really add up, especially if you don’t have a plan.

Did you know you can send text messages from your computer to people’s cell phones? I just read about it on Oprah.com. Click on the link I just provided and it give you full instructions (you basically just type the person’s cell # into the “to” field of your email program).

This is also cool if you want to get a message out to someone fast who’s not at their computer or you don’t have time to get into a long conversation with.

Am I wealth of money saving tips today or what?! And I’m also so proud of myself for becoming so tech-savvy…

I have a bad habit of calling 411 whenever I need a phone number quickly and am on the go. But every time you call information for a number, it costs a dollar. And those dollars add up quickly.

Well, a friend told me about this number and I was a little skeptical at first, but then I read about it on Oprah.com.

Whenever you need a number, just dial 800-466-4411. It’s a free service from Google, and a great way to save in just one small way. I even programmed it into my cell phone. Click on the phone number I’ve underlined and you can watch a short video on Google’s web site explaining how easy it is to use.

Ever since I had my baby and stopped working full-time, I’ve been trying to find every little way possible to save money.

I’ve become sort of a couponaholic, obsessed with downloading coupons from the Internet. OMG, you wouldn’t believe how much free money is out there. This probably sounds like a tacky infomercial, but it’s totally true.

I downloaded a browser bar that alerts me every time a new coupon becomes available. All you do is click on the coupons you want and print them out.

I’ve saved up to $30/week on brands and items I normally buy, like Kashi, Luna Bars, Organic Valley milk, Pampers, etc.

Go to couponmom.com or coolsavings.com AND you can also visit the individual web sites for your favorite brands–I get lots of coupons there too.  Some sites ask you to fill out quick surveys for manufacturers’ coupons and free samples of products (I received $10 in the mail from Kashi just for signing up with them).