You are so right, Jordane. The cost of pop is out of control. In fact, I have seen it close to $3 at some restaurants!

The tip about only ordering water out is brilliant. I can't believe how much pop costs when you are out these days. I've also cut my cable costs - it was really hard at first. I do my own pedicures now too. I was paying $30 a month to have someone paint my toes.

Thank you for the insight Mary, this is very helpful.

Frank, I actually had an article on this planned but wasn't sure if it was too early. Glad to know there's already interest in this topic - I'll post the full article soon.

Spending less during the holidays:

Agree with your extended family to skip the gifts altogether (or do for kids only) and everybody contribute something to the family dinner instead.

Have everybody draw a name from a hat and get a really awesome gift for their one person.

Utilize your hobbies, skills, and talents to make or put together a personalized gift for each person on your list.

Make goodie baskets with several inexpensive (but thoughtful) items catered to your recipients' interests.

Add to your decoration collection over time by starting small and then catching the after-holiday sales where you'll find prices of half off or more.

With the holiday season coming up. Does anyone have any good tips on saving during the holiday season?

I try to find meaningful, but inexpensive, gifts, and limit my expenses on decorations.

Great topic, and great tips. Here is a list below that I lived by during college:
1. Got rid of cable, and I lived in an apartment complex so I split my wireless internet with my neighbors.
2. When I ate out, I only drank water to save on costs
3. I continually called my cell phone service provider until I got a better deal on minutes and texting.
4. Used credit card points to travel home
5. Instead of buying a gym membership, I ran and exercised outside

Great info ... a form of self control. Never thought of doing the shopping cart trick

OK here's mine:
I completely agree with Finance Globe on leaving things in my online shopping cart for at least a day - I can't count how many times I've come back and took nearly everything out. (Then went on to purchase the one thing that I actually needed.) Shopping from the comfort of my home is so convenient but can really be too convenient at times

Really limiting the typical "family entertainment" venues - movies theatres, pizza/video game place, amusement parks and county/state fairs, and other places like that. But we've invested in equipment like archery gear, lawn games, kayaks, hiking and camping gear, and video games. So even though the upfront costs were not small, we'll get many years worth of excitement and entertainment for very little additional cost.

We do enjoy an occasional night out to dinner, but most of our meals are made at home. We've learned we can usually make a better dinner ourselves for much cheaper than what we pay for at a restaurant. Also, I make sure to pack a really good snack bag when we travel or even just in town if I'm running errands with the kids to avoid buying cheeseburgers for "starving" people.

I was surprised not to see this topic on our forums. Here it is, what are some ways you will be looking to save on unneeded expenses, or already have? We will write a blog about this, but community examples would be excellent to have.

Here's my list:

1. Look at unused cable channels. I watch HBO on occasion, but can get the same movies on Netflix.
2. I bought a Rug Doctor rug cleaner. Seemed kind of outrageous, but I use it not only to clean the carpet, but my truck interior. Great to have with kids and dogs. The rug cleaning alone paid for this machine.
3. Leave cart items in my cart for at least 1 day. This helps me to keep impulse shopping grounded and time to think about it or comparison shop.