Food

For most families, food is the source of most careless spending, says Gary Foreman, who edits The Dollar Stretcher Web site, www.stretcher.com, from his office near Tampa, Florida. A four-person family spends $7,448 on food each year, including $3,043 on eating out, according to the most recent government statistics.

One easy way to reduce grocery bills is to use a price book, Foreman says. Next time you hit the grocery store, bring along a memo pad to note prices on items you buy regularly, one product per page. Then stock up on items when your price book shows they're truly on sale -- not just when the store claims they are. That way, you're buying the same products but saving (typically as much as 20 percent) on grocery spending, Foreman says.

The other food area to cut back is eating out. Even cheapskates would never suggest that you skip special dinners out, such as those celebrating anniversaries or job promotions. Instead, eliminate dining out that stems from poor meal planning -- the pizza deliveries, the Chinese takeout. They may sound wonderful when the cook's too tired, but with a little planning, you can still have food fast without losing money fast.

Freezer meals are the key, experts say. When you cook, make two lasagnas or meat loaves instead of one, or make double- or triple-size casseroles. Stash the leftovers in the freezer for a busy week. Then a good and inexpensive meal is only microwave minutes away.

Also, take a hard look at workday dining-out expenses, such as that morning coffee and the late-afternoon trip to the cafeteria vending machine. Instead, make coffee at home. Pack a lunch. Stash homemade snacks in your desk. Besides saving money, you usually eat better-tasting and more healthful food.

Use these strategies to slice 20 percent out of your grocery shopping while cutting your dining out in half, and you have annual savings of $2,402.

Telecom and TV

Hang up on your long-distance telephone service, says John Breyault, spokesperson for Telecommunications Research & Action Center, a consumer advocacy group.

That's right. Cancel long-distance service on your home phone and use prepaid long-distance phone cards from reputable companies like AT&T or MCI. Not only do you avoid the base fees that are built into long-distance service, but the rates can be as low as about 3 cents per minute. You can buy the cards at such stores as Sam's Club, Costco, and Wal-Mart.

For someone dropping their per-minute rate from 10 to 3 cents and avoiding long-distance service fees, savings for three hours of long-distance charges a month adds up to more than $270 a year.

In addition to home phone service, most families have at least one cellular phone. One of the top reasons given for having such phone service is the ability to call for help in an emergency. But if it's a true emergency, you don't need wireless service at all. Just carry any charged cellphone. As long as the phone is receiving a signal, calls to 911 will always be connected, even if you're not subscribed to any plan. Dump the wireless service plan and save $660 a year.

A compromise would be to keep your cellphone plan and use it for all your long-distance calls, assuming they're free with your wireless plan. Also reassess whether you truly need premium services. On your home phone, do you really want to spend $8 a month on caller ID and call waiting? Cut just those two services to save $96 a year.

For Internet access, do you really need cable delivery or a DSL connection? Switch from $50 monthly broadband Internet access to $20 dial-up, and save more. Savings: $360 a year.

The cable or satellite television decision is much the same. Do you really need all those channels or do you mostly watch network programming? If you don't need the extras, cut them out.

The United States average monthly rate for cable TV service is $36.99, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Add a few other options and premium channels, and many households are looking at a bill of about $80 a month. If you can drop to a basic TV package of about $15 a month, that's a savings of $780 annually. Note that savings on satellite TV packages are less because their basic packages can be more expensive. Check rates with local providers to figure out exactly how much you'll save in your area.

Total telephone and TV savings: $2,166

Credit Cards

Switching to a low-interest credit card can take an enormous chunk out of your card debt.

The Federal Reserve Bank surveys credit card offers twice a year and posts the findings on its Web site at www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/shop. Another good source of credit comparisons is www.bankrate.com.

Paying 10 percent less on credit card interest saves an average of $728 per year in card debt.

Auto

Some careers don't lend themselves to sharing rides with coworkers, but if yours does, it could save real money.

If you pay your driver at the IRS's 2002 mileage reimbursement rate of 36.5 cents per mile, carpooling to work half the time on a 20-mile round-trip commute for 50 weeks would save you $912.

Also, save gas by using good old common-sense conservation techniques, such as avoiding unnecessary braking and acceleration, leaving windows up to reduce drag at higher speeds, using cruise control and overdrive gears, keeping your tires properly inflated, and clearing the junk out of the trunk.

If you did just some of those things to save 20 percent on gas costs, it could mean savings of $210 a year, assuming traveling 15,000 miles a year and gas costs of $1.40 a gallon on a vehicle that gets 20 miles to the gallon. Try that for two cars in the family, and gas savings alone jump to $420 annually.

Total auto savings: $1,332

Insurance

Insurance is often a painful subject to dig into because it's confusing and conjures unpleasant thoughts about auto accidents and house fires.

Shopping around for insurance can lead to big savings, but even if you stay with your existing insurance carrier, you can save more by raising your deductibles.

"With insurance, you should be protecting yourself against a disaster, not small damages," says Jordan E. Goodman, author of Everyone's Money Book (find out more money advice at his Web site, www.moneyanswers.com).

So why pay significantly higher premiums year after year to have a deductible as low as $200 on your auto or home insurance? Increasing a deductible on auto insurance from $200 to $500 could save up to 30 percent on annual premiums, according to Insure.com. Raising homeowners insurance from $250 to $5,000 could save 37 percent a year.

"The chances of having an accident aren't all that high -- whether one will happen is uncertain. What's certain is what the premium is going to be," Goodman says. "You have to be willing to accept paying for small fender-benders and repairs, but that's a better bet to take for most people. Over time, chances are you'll come out ahead."

Also, consider combining your insurances with the same carrier for an additional savings of 10 percent.

Library

One huge center for cost savings is as close as the local public library.

Of course, libraries are a great source of books, magazines, and newspapers that you don't have to buy yourself. You could save $155 a year, the amount spent annually on reading, according to government statistics. Libraries are also a great source of audio CDs, movies, and books on tape. If expenses for a movie rental each week ($4 each), a CD per month ($16 each), and four books on tape a year ($30 each) are eliminated from the family budget, that's savings of $520.

Total savings switching over to the library: $675

Taxes

Income earners, visit your human resources officer at work and get the withholding amount correct on the W-4 tax form, which alone can save an average of $1,937 in withholding. Otherwise, you're just giving the federal government an interest-free loan on your money.

All told, that's a savings of more than $10,000 in a year, putting an extra $833 per month in your pocket. As the disclaimer goes, results may vary. But if you could save even a fraction of that, it could be the equivalent of covering your car payment or household utilities with money shaken loose from between the cracks of your household budget.