Conserve gas the usual ways: keep an eye on the best prices in your area (it's not always the same station that's best); remove unnecessary items from your car/truck to reduce weight; keep speeds down, replace air filter and otherwise maintain vehicle regularly; plan trips carefully to get the most tasks done each time you're out. Buy staples in quantity if possible to reduce trips to the grocery store. Think about whether it's more or less expensive to drive farther to obtain better prices when shopping.
Make a list of the places you go to shop or take care of business (like the post office)most often. If your spouse or other family member regularly drives by those places and you don't, ask them to take care of those things for you so you're not making an extra unnecessary trip.
Use economic household practices: curb use of water, electricity, heat, and other utilities as far as possible. If you have cell phones, consider cancelling the landline. Use economic food gardening practices, and consider eliminating potted flowering plants, etc. that require expenditures in water, soil, and fertilizer and don't give anything back.
If you don't have a lot of time or energy for cooking, don't eat out. Instead, keep healthy, easy-to-fix foods on hand. Spend a little time thinking about quick ways to prepare and get more than one meal out of your favorite foods. A few minor adjustments to your routine can works wonders.
I echo the online billpay idea. If you pay 15 bills a month x $0.42 x 12 months, billpay saves me $75 a year. That's a couple bags of groceries.
Reduce your water bill! Portland Water District is offering rain barrels at a 30% discount. Collect rainwater, store it and use it to water lawns, gardens and plants. Click here to read more!
Domino Magazine has recommendations about which of the new energy saving (and $$ saving) lightbulbs give the best light.
Give up the dry cleaner - buy only wash and wear.
For saving food $$, what about creative cooking instead of frozen food or eating out? You CAN do better at home! The blog Serious Eats and the Fine Cooking Magazine web site are inspirational.
I pay my bills online and with automatic payments all scheduled individually for the day each bill is due, giving me the benefit of a bit interest on my money.
Also, I have set up a monthly automatic mortgage payment above the amount required (e.g. $150/ month). This will save thousands at the end of the loan term.
And, I have a small greenhouse, garden and preserving process, so I can produce much of the food we consume. That which I don\'t grow, I get from my membership in a local CSA (Community Supported Agricultural Farm) and save personal gas and global fossil fuel incurred if I were buying good from out of state.
Finally, we keep our furnace thermostat low, close off rooms we are not using and heat whatever room we are in with a secondary source. So far we have cut our consumption of propane.
Share your money-saving, money-managing suggestions.
Download coupons from Penny Pincher Gazette or Coupons.com
What's on sale at your local grocery store?
Brownbag it! Take your lunch to work and use this
calculator to see how much you will save.
Plant a garden. Maine's own Kitchen Gardeners International wants to help.
Looking for food pantries or soup kitchens in Maine ? Here's a list by county.
Is your mortgage at risk? Take a short test.
Hope Now is a consortium of lenders and counselors created to help struggling homeowners. You can call them at 1-888-995-HOPE.
Pine Tree Legal's Foreclosure Prevention Toolkit.
How to avoid foreclosure from the Deparment of Housing and Urban Development.
Recycle? No, Freecycle! Don't throw it away. Offer it to the greater Freecycle group and see what is available free of charge to you.
Start or join a co-op. Co-ops are formed to fill almost any consumer need but often provide affordable food of good quality. The National Cooperative Business Association can tell you how.
Remove temptation from your mailbox by using this free service to take your name off catalog mailing lists.
Check this happily named directory Government May Owe You Money to see if this could possibly be true. You may be particularly interested in a 2007 list of Maine refund checks that were returned to the IRS and a notice about refunds for Mainers who didn't file taxes in 2004.
Maine maintains a list of lost and unclaimed money and personal assets. You may be on this list. Search the list and file to reclaim property.
Grow your net worth and share money saving tips Free Money Finance blog.
Buy the newspaper (!) but read books and watch DVDs at no charge. Search all the libraries in the state for their holdings. Books and DVDs will be delivered to your local library where you can check them out.
Barter your time for services by joining the Maine Time Bank.
Free samples, free games, free ringtones and more at this directory of freebies on the web.
Looking for an inexpensive haircut? Try a beauty school.
Buy and sell "gently used" clothing and toys at consignment stores.
Save money on cleaning products. Make your own non-toxic cleaning kit.
If you can't afford dental care, here is a list of clinics around the state.
The City of Portland runs a community free clinic.
Find free clinics and rural health care in Maine.
Free or low-cost legal advice is available from the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, and Legal Services for the Elderly.
HelpMeLaw provides legal information to low income Maine residents.
If you can't afford to neuter your dog or cat these veterinary clinics may be be to help.
Calculate the best way to save energy in your house with the Department of Energy's Home Energy Saver, a do-it-yourself energy audit.
What does your commute cost?
GoMaine runs vanpools between metropolitan areas in York to Kennebec counties. Or you can use their site to join or start a carpool.
Want to volunteer? Search here for an organization that needs your help.
Maine residents are entitled to one free credit report annually.
A credit calculator can help you plan to pay off your credit card debt.
Beware of scams! The Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection maintains a roster of companies and individuals licensed in the consumer finance industry, including debt management companies and repossesion companies.
Download a guide to your rights as Maine citizen when dealing with debt collectors, collection agencies or repossession companies.
Consumer Credit Counseling of Maine
Budget Calculator from Consumer Credit Counseling.
Portland's Institute for Financial Literacy provides tools to download including budget worksheets, daily spending logs and financial goal plans.
Use this online tool to Calculate your net worth.
How much should you set aside for emergencies?
Estimate what your federal or state income tax refund will be.
Bankruptcy basics
The U. S. court system provides guidance on filing for bankruptcy without an attorney. Maine's bankruptcy court has detailed information for the self-filer.
If you are filing for bankruptcy, you are not alone: Maine bankruptcy filing statistics.
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