Ha ha - one of my favorite topics. I'm a cheapo. Great tips, Rosie.

- I confess, I'm usually too lazy to wash lettuce, so I buy bagged baby spinach instead. Much cheaper, way more nutritious, and more flexible (you wouldn't want to toss that lettuce into a quiche!)

- Buy the tubes of sausage meat. It's cheaper (at least in my area), and your hand-made patties will cook faster. Save the lard that cooks out. Just refrigerate it. Then use it to cook eggs. Delicious, and you've saved yourself some expensive butter.

- Buy meat on the bone, then boil the bones for broth. Or, even easier, roast the meat with some water and onions in the bottom of the pan. Not only are you saving money on the meat, but you're saving what you would have spent on packaged broth. Plus, the homemade broth tastes way better and you know you're not getting excess preservatives. Bonus: you can use the fat on the top for cooking veggies, etc. It's delicious. Butter and olive oil are expensive: try to use up that perfectly good fat that you'd normally toss.

- Combine that leftover broth with your leftover veggies that you might have otherwise thrown out and make soup. Be creative - you don't need a gourmet recipe.