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Re-activateEditor's Note: With rising gas and food prices, falling home values, and a stock market that seems to change direction by the day, many Americans are watching their spending. We decided to ask our resident money experts what, if anything, they're doing on the frugality front, and each day for the next several weeks, we'll be posting their responses. Here's #1 in the series:
1. On two trips this summer, I declined free upgrades offered by the car-rental company (one was to a sports car, the other to an SUV). I expected to do a lot of driving and wanted the better gas mileage of the pared-down Volkswagen Golf I'd reserved. (Also wanted to see how it drove, in case it's my next car.) In the past, I've taken free upgrades to "fun" cars (one was a convertible, another was a big, upscale sedan).
2. My husband and I check with each other before picking stuff up on the way home from work; we used to both stop for milk or whatever and wind up wasting it. And we only buy fresh produce if we intend to use it immediately. No lofty "I should eat more salads and fresh fruit," then winding up throwing most of it away.—Jean Pietrobono, managing editor
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