I need to spend less.

[maddezmom]

2. depends on what you like to eat, but I do a lot of salads and was getting

lazy and brought the prepacked ones. Now I just buy 3 heads of Romaine, spin it and store in my salad spinner and have for 3-4 lg salads a week. Need to have tomatoes, cukes, etc on hand but it's so much cheaper than buying the pre made. Actually, I've quit buying pre made stuff all together for the most part.

Also suggest making items and freezing portions to cut down on the take out food calls. I always have homemade sauce, soup, ziti, chili etc in the freezer to either micro or stick in the oven. I only freeze stuff I know I love and will eat. Another thing I do, is when I grill chicken/beef...do two. Then you have one for the next day for dinner or lunch to reheat quickly.

I've always felt I was frugal person but now after my divorce I need to be a frugal person. I've got my $$$ coming in and going out now and it's pretty much fixed, so I've put myself on a budget with the goal of always ending up in the black.

One more thing I'd suggest is keeping a diary of every item from coffee at your local to dry cleaner items, etc to see if you can cut back there anyway.

Good luck.