Many people use the excuse that they are too busy to make any extra effort to live frugally. But even those of us who are the busiest can find an extra ten minutes here and there if we look hard enough for it. Here are five quickie tasks you can do anytime that will help you save money. For example, Spend some time taking inventory of all the food items you have in your pantry. Then think of creative ways to use those items this week.

There are things that you can do with your children that will cut the cost of spending to much money on "doing" something with the kids. Try to think of things that the kids would enjoy that either do not cost a lot of money or cost nothing at all.

If your employer offers a matching contribution to your retirement plan, the cardinal rule is: contribute whatever the employer is willing to match even if it is only a percentage of your contribution and not a dollar for dollar match.

What we found out is that it was actually easy to cut our grocery bill in HALF on a consistent basis, simply by preparing our meals! It may not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, but it was shocking to us to see how much money we had been spending simply for the convenience of quick meals to support our unbalanced, quick paced lifestyle.

Eating a meal out can be a really expensive event, but it really does not have to be. Ideally, we would all eat our meals at home and save ourselves the expense of having someone else prepare a meal for us, but I admit that there are just those nights where I do not feel like cooking. When you find yourself having one of these nights, keep in mind these tips for saving money on your dinner bill.

If you have ever cut out the grocery coupons from the Sunday paper; you quickly realize that you wind up with piles of paper that clutter your kitchen desk. Then that pile that takes time to manage in order to achieve measurable savings at the grocery store and this is where most people give up.

Now, let's assume you have been contributing only the portion that your employer is willing to match and yet you barely have enough money to get by week to week. Does it still make sense to make non-matched contributions or Roth IRA contributions assuming you do not want to reduce your spending? Maybe. (This article does not address Roth IRA contributions vs. non-matched 401(k) contributions and hereafter only refers to non-matched 401(k) contributions).

The cost of hotel reservations can put a huge dent in your budget. So, the first step to an enjoyable vacation is to plan in advance and formulate a travel budget. Once the budget has been decided upon, start allotting amounts into sections, like transportation, food etc. and the amount that you have after subtracting these expenses from the overall travel budget, is your hotel budget. Read on for more.

Don't use coupons just because they are a "good deal". Try to limit coupon use to products you would normally buy anyway. Coupons are most often offered to entice shoppers to buy high priced, highly processed convenience foods, so in some cases it may be cheaper and healthier to make your own home made version of the product from scratch.

Wouldn't it be a relief, if we could get everything we want with the wave of a hand? Well, now it s possible to avoid the holiday shopping rush and order anything you want from the quite and privacy of your own home. All you have to do is get logged on to a computer, open any of the abundant shopping sites on the net and order anything you like.

summer vacation is coming to an end and children will be starting back to school soon. I guess you could say bargain hunting for the best price (and value) on school supplies and children's clothing has become an annual ritual for our family, but with four school-aged children we generally have to do whatever we can to keep costs down.

Keep your financial records organized and your filing up to date. Have a set of file folders for items such as receipts, bills, canceled checks, checking account statements, etc. Have a designated place where you keep or can easily assemble your home budget , your financial files, checkbook, etc. so it is all in one convenient location.