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Do you think you might be laid off? Is your employer considering a hiring and salary freeze? Are you unemployed? These trying economic times may cause difficulties, but they also represent a tremendous opportunity for each of us to examine our role in the economy and to examine our personal consumption habits. If we all resolve to improve the quality of our spending, even though we may be limited in how much we spend, our world will come out of the current recession much healthier than it was before.

Of course, if your income has been reduced, the first thing you need to do is carefully consider every purchase you make. Here are some no-brainer suggestions for ways to cut your expenses. You may think these things are too trivial to bother with, but over the course of a year or two, the savings will really add up:

• When you reach for the last book of checks in your drawer and see that “reorder now” sheet, instead of calling your bank, go online to buy new checks. You can save a bundle over the high markups your bank imposes.
• Check your newspaper subscription rates. If it is cheaper to just get the Sunday paper, change your subscription. You don’t need to read the paper seven days a week, and you will be saving many trees by cutting down to one day. Be sure to clip grocery coupons from your Sunday paper. The savings will pay for the paper many times over and will significantly cut your food bill.
• Walk or ride your bicycle to run errands and do shopping close to home. Use high quality reusable tote bags so you can carry your stuff home. If you avoid driving just one mile per day, you will save anywhere from $25 to $75 per year on gasoline, depending on your car’s efficiency and the price of gasoline.
• Turn your thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer. Look for easy ways to save energy around your house. Easy ways to save energy are by covering windows on cold nights and plugging leaks around windows and doors.
• Buy unprocessed foods and cook from scratch. Eating at home most of the time will save you a lot of money. But, don’t neglect to support your local eateries on special occasions like your significant other’s birthday!
• Need new clothes? Check your local thrift store first, especially for kids’ clothing that they will outgrow quickly. You can find like new items at amazing prices.

These are just a few simple suggestions. Remember to have fun while you are saving money. When you buy checks, don’t get the same plain boring style you have had for years. Get checks with frogs or something exciting like wolf design checks instead. Make foods you have never tried before, like a green salad with arugula and spinach, or grilled bison burgers. Buy colorful, offbeat clothes at your local thrift store that you would never think of paying retail for. Life is short. Have fun!