Cooking from scratch, which can also be called homemade cooking, is making a comeback these days. People are realizing that scratch cooking provides multiple benefits. Food cooked using real ingredients is more digestable than prepackaged meals. Food cooked from scratch contains fewer of the chemicals foreign to our bodies. Scratch cooking lowers grocery bills. Lastly, and most importantly, food prepared from scratch just plain tastes better than those plastic- encapsulated, reconstituted, freezer-to-microwave meals. At least it tastes better in my house.

Just to be clear here --for easy daily cooking, I do believe in such things as premixed spice blends, frozen vegetables, and prepared sauces. I also believe that homemade cooking strategies are wide- open for adaptation.

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Not everything has to be produced on our own stove tops. Scratch cooking can be as easy as placing a nice little chuck roast into a slow cooker with some carrots, peas, and diced potatoes. Adding a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning to the blend will provide exceptional flavor. Leave the mixture on low heat all day and you'll come home to an aroma reminiscent of grandma's loving kitchen.

Earlier this month a combination of factors kept us from our regular weekend trip to the grocery store. Rather than cramming it in after work when we were already hungry, we skipped buying groceries for the week, saving close to $100 bucks. Normally skipping on groceries leads to bad habits such as frequent fast food stops but this week we were able to avoid the temptation. Instead we chose to feed ourselves using the cupboard plan.

The cupboard plan is surprisingly simple and pretty much anyone can use it to save money on groceries several times a year. The only two requirements are that your cupboards aren't bare and that you have enough willpower to avoid eating out. I think you'll be surprised by just how many meals are hidden behind your cupboard doors!

After exploring the recesses of our cupboard, we found plenty of pasta, peanut butter, soups and even Jell-O. When we looked in the freezer, we discovered garlic bread, fries, pierogies and more, all waiting to be eaten before freezer burn set in. While we didn't eat fancy during the week, we still had lots of delicious meals.

This experiment reminded me that while our cash emergency fund isn't as big as I would like it to be, our emergency food fund is well stocked. This is a reminder that even if you are a meal-planning pro, you're sure to stumble every now and then, leading to a surplus of food that ends up in the freezer. This plan isn't for everyone, but if you are looking for a quick way to save $100 bucks and have a little willpower then this is an easy way to do it!

It's a credit crunch. A meltdown. A financial crisis! A banking collapse! While we're all panicking, what should we do? While Tracy Coenen points out that the credit crunch is overstated, I have to agree with Julie Tilsner, who suggests banning credit cards. But my plan goes even further: I don't want to borrow any money for anything. Not a major appliance "buy now pay in 2010!" plan. Not a new car. Not a home equity loan, a refinance with cash out, or anything.

Having made all (or, well, many) of the financial mistakes a woman can make, I've vowed to only buy the stuff I can afford. If my dishwasher bites the dust (it did), I'll wash dishes by hand until I can find a good used machine for my budget or until my sister's erstwhile boyfriend installs the extra one he promised us. If my glass-top stove breaks (yep), I'll cook with the two burners whose glass wasn't totally shattered until I find the gas stove of my dreams on craigslist (anyone want to barter for homemade fig pear lavender jam?). If we need to get around town, we'll ride our bikes or the city bus. Need to go on a vacation? Need a new TV? No one needs these things. New school clothes? Goodwill. New roof? Guess I'd better start saving now.

I've learned that borrowing money when you're broke is only going to make you more broke in the future. The stuff I earnestly told myself was an "investment" has turned out to be just stuff, much of which wouldn't even move for a few dollars at our family's yard sale.

If only the nation's banks could learn that lesson. But they just borrowed money from their rich Uncle Sam. And you and I both know what happens when you borrow money from family...

Ideas for reducing the cost of driving, such as carpooling or buying smaller, more efficient cars, have gained popularity. One concept however, may be getting far too much positive publicity. It's the risk-your-own-life practice of drafting. Sure, it's used in every NASCAR race on the circuit. But while it could save you in gasoline usage, it could also kill you in a split second.

Drafting is accomplished by tucking your vehicle in behind a larger vehicle while moving at highway speed. The tactic is most often employed behind the trailers of eighteen-wheelers. By moving to within 100 feet or less of the lead vehicle, drivers take advantage of the swath that the lead vehicle cuts through the air. The vacuum pocket behind the truck reduces air resistance and the "wake" of the truck closes in behind you helping to propel you along. However, my two brothers-in-law, who are professional drivers, will tell you that there's nothing more nerve wracking for a truck driver than when a car moves in so close behind that it can't be seen in the truck's mirrors. It's simply a recipe for disaster.

The problem is, for the maneuver to be effective at all, you need to be too dangerously close to the lead vehicle. Any successful drafting attempt eliminates your safe reaction time. If the lead vehicle needs to stop in a hurry, about all you'll have time to effectively do is to open your eyes very wide and then noisily go splat. If the truck kicks up road debris, it will be on you before you can blink.

Kiplinger 's Personal Finance writer, Stacy Rapacon has provided us with five safe ways to save money on fueling your car. Stacy's ideas don't involve risking your life or compromising the safety of other drivers. Additionally, Kiplinger's can help you to get ahead of the game by steering you into cars with the best fuel economy ratings.

Remember, saving money a few pennies on gas is a foolish bargain if it puts you or others at risk. You can't spend the money you saved on gas while resting in your grave.

If there are any two topics which rest heavy on our minds and light on our tongues these days, those two subjects would be how to save money and how to help the planet stay healthy. One concept which is a perennial favorite in both those realms is the classic do it yourself toilet modification. This simple yet effective gambit will reduce your water and sewer bills as it also reduces your impact on mother nature. So gather the family around your computer monitor to watch this short production from VideoJug and rediscover one cool way to show mother nature we still do love her... one flush at a time.

On Christmas Day it snowed here in Portland, Oregon, where I live, so we spent an hour eagerly watching the Weather Channel to hear more news of white Christmases. The sweet, certainly well-meaning weathercaster perkily hoped that we were having a nice vacation from working ... and shopping! My husband and I looked at each other. Could this be true? We only have one chance a year to take a holiday from shopping?

No! Say it ain't so. Let this be the year that nearly every day is a well-earned vacation from shopping. Sure, there's the stuff that can't be avoided; groceries (though we've committed to getting most of our food locally this year), toilet paper, the occasional pack of socks or new tool we long for. (For my husband, that's real tools, for me, it's camera equipment. La!) But free yourself from the need to shop. Despite popular belief, you are not single-handedly responsible for protecting the fates of the retail stocks. Limited Brands and The Gap will survive without your help, and if they should fail? Truly, fashion clothing is not the pillar of civilization as we know it. Mankind will go on.

If you're struggling with the idea of not spending, here are a few tips on how to reduce unnecessary expenditures:

You mean well. You want to start saving; paying off debts; or just get by without running out of money three days before pay day. But you just have so many needs! And your spare cash just seems to disappear. What to do?

Let's take a closer look at your spending habits -- a really close look. Pull out a shopping list from a recent grocery store run; and then pull out your receipt. Let's get out our checklist and evaluate the things that could be better left on the shelves, in the bins, at the coffeeshop ...