For example, if you go to any electronics website you will see tons of reviews and ratings from consumers. I was reading some digital camcorder reviews recently and they are a good case point. There are so features and facets to today gadgets like cell phones, digital cameras and lcd televisions that it is hard to stay on top of. Reading reviews really gives you insight into things that you might not think of. Things that you might forget to ask the salesperson. If you are going to spend the money, you want to be informed.

Of course, you sometimes have to take the reviews with a grain of salt. Some people like to complain for the sake of complaining. After you read through a few of them you will be able to pick the bad reviews from good reviews.

A friend was telling me her story last week about a car accident she was in. Her car was a beater and wasn't worth the collision payments she was making on it. She could have put her collision money away in a bank account and put that money towards a newer car. I was making mortgage insurance payments on a small mortgage I have while at the same time being covered under the terms of my life insurance. I was double paying.

Take a look at your policies and I bet there is a way you can cut down on your expenses.

Here are some benefits of taking some online courses:

• the cost of the courses themselves are generally less expensive than going to school
• you save money on travel expenses such bus passes and gas money
• books can be cheaper depending on the courses you are taking.
• you can save on food, when I was going to school I spending tons on junk food and eating in the cafeterias or restaurants
• start and stop courses when you want so you don't have to drop tons of money on taking 4 or 5 courses at a time

Updating your job skills can't be a bad thing. I blogged about it once before. You can't take courses to try and get a job in a dead industry. You have to research the field that you are interested in otherwise you could be throwing your money away right from the start.

Saving money is all about having set goals and then planning on how you can reach those goals. You can't just say I am going to try and save money. This is especially true if you have lots of debt to work off. You have to have a plan to get yourself debt free or save money and stick to it. You also have to carefully watch your plan and if it's not working then revise or adapt until it does work.

Here are a few photos of the project. I used steel framing but I think wood would have been cheaper and more efficient. We had to brace the steel with wood anyways as the foam without the bracing would have ripped the steel apart.

We all love our music, right? When you are going out to look at ipods why do you have to have the top of the line newest touch version when an older nano will do the trick. In the end you just want your mp3 play to play music. Even an older generation ipod touch is much cheaper than the generation or bigger gig model.

I am looking to upgrade my cell phone. The one I have now has a battery that dies all the time. It's become a pain. I reall want an iphone but I am not willing to spend the new cake on an iphone 4 just because it's new. I am holding off to see what happens with the older versions of the 3Gs. Right now they can't be found as Apple isn't sending them out to the stores but I am holding off to see what happens after the version 4 release.

I have fought my urge to buy the newest thing because I really don't need it all that bad, an older model will do what I want and I will save money by doing so. Next time you are standing in front of the latest widget, ask yourself if you really need it or not? Your wallet will say thanks.

Too many people think that frugality is for those without money. I grew up in a fairly poor family and the idea of frugal living never really appealed to me. I like to spend money. I like to have what I want when I want it. I never thought I'd be a frugal person.

But somewhere along the way I realized that to have everything I want, I have to stop buying and using things I really don't want. That almost makes sense, doesn't it? Basically, I set some goals. And to fulfill your goals, you have to take action.

And I became hooked on living frugally.

Frugal living becomes a game you play against yourself. You are looking for ways to save. I started out simply looking to see if I could really lower our electric bill. And I did with very little effort. Then I looked to our heating costs. Hey, I did it again. Then I looked to our driving expenses.

Okay, you just get hooked. Now I'm working on cutting our food costs. I've been trying several methods, so we'll see what works. In fact, I've become so good at cutting costs, my husband is taking a lower paying job that will bring him more time at home with us.

Frugal living isn't something that is easy on a family when you take the attitude on that you must do it. It is like cleaning house. It is something that has to be done. You can either make it a good experience or a bad one. With the wrong attitude you will probably fail.

Consider frugal living as a challenge. And the best thing is that you are improving more than just your financial situation. I've heard many, many financial counselors and advisors say that when people gain control of their money, they gain control of their lives. That is because self-control bleeds over into other things. You simply begin to look at things differently.

Whether you are looking to a frugal life out of necessity or out of a wise money management plan, start by simply tackling one area of your expenses. Then move on to another. Over time, you will find that your attitude changes and you look at things differently. And you start seeing that you can save money (to spend on things that really matter) without much effort at all. And that's the best thing about the frugal challenge — you save money.

You are going to have to learn to save money. It can be hard to learn, but is actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. Here are a few tips for getting started.

First, you have to start organizing your finances. This will help you in seeing your true financial situation. How will you be able to get out of debt if you don't know how much debt you have? How can you save if you don't know what you are spending? Gather all of your financial documents and calculate what your monthly bills are. Take the time to create a budget. Be honest and include everything — otherwise your budget won't work.

In order to truly budget, you are going to have to know what you spend each month. This helps you see where all the money is slipping out. You can use a computer and personal financial software or a small notebook. The key is to write down every penny you spend. This sounds time consuming, but can be a lot easier if you simply get receipts for every purchase. Then write them down every couple of days. Anything you don't get a receipt for you will need to write down immediately.

Now the savings begin. You look at what you are spending and see where you can cut things. You may need to be extreme and cut out everything but the necessities. Satellite TV and cable can go. You can reduce your cell phone plan and use it for emergencies only. You can look for ways to reduce your utilities and grocery bills. If you are buying coffee each morning, stop buying it and make it at home instead.

If you have your paycheck direct deposited into your account, have your employer split it and deposit a portion into your savings. This can be $10 or $200. It doesn't matter. The idea is to start saving money. When it is automatically put in your savings and you never see it, it becomes quite easy to forget about it. If you get a raise, have the amount of the raise put in your savings each month. When you never see the money, you learn to live without it. It is the easiest way to save.

If you want to protect your budget from disruptions, you need to start a savings account that will handle your annual expenses. These are the things that don't come due on a monthly basis. You need to save for Christmas, holiday spending, birthdays, annual insurance premiums, property taxes and other annual events. By saving this amount, you won't stretch your budget beyond its limits later.

With the same idea in mind, you should start contributing something towards an emergency fund. You never know when something will break down. When it does, it usually puts you in a financial pickle. You can avoid the stress to yourself and your finances by having an emergency fund. Most financial advisors recommend that you have at least three months of expenses in the fund. Don't let this discourage you. Put anything you can in there. Even if it isn't a full month's worth, it will help out in an emergency.

This is ironic. One of the best ways to save money is to get out of debt. And that is why you start saving money in the first place. So I guess you could say that by getting out of debt you can save even more money. Think of how much you are paying in interest. That amount could be going into your savings and earning you interest. Instead of paying a lender, the bank could be paying you. It is important to get your debt paid off first, then work on your savings.

Don't focus on trying to save a certain percentage of your income unless that goal drives you to save. The key in the beginning is to save as much as possible. Have goals that you are working towards. Budget wisely and make saving a habit. It will pay off in the long run.