Get steamed.

Home dry-cleaning products, such as a $12 kit of Dryel (which uses the heat from your dryer to steam clean your clothes), can help you get a fresh-pressed look at a lower price. "It really works," says Lilliana Vazquez, founder of cheapchicas.com. While it won't completely replace dry cleaning, you can probably alternate between home cleaning and sending it out. But keep in mind that some items—suits and wool sweaters in particular—aren't meant to be cleaned frequently. "Any more than two times a year and you'll wear out the fabric," says Kathryn Finney, founder of thebudgetfashionista.com.Food Shopping Cut $30 a week x 52 weeks = $1,560 You don't have to live on soup to save money on groceries. "Take a strategic approach to shopping and you'll save a lot of money without having to eat poorly," says Stephanie Nelson, founder of couponmom.com.

Plan ahead.

If you stop at the supermarket every night on the way home from work, you're wasting a lot of extra cash. A study found that people who take numerous quick trips buy 54 percent more food than those who carefully plan a once-a-week attack. A smarter move: Come up with a week's worth of meals, then shop on the weekend for only what's on the list. To speed up your planning, build a grocery list online (check out grocerywiz.com, knotler.com, and ziplist.com).

Go no-name.

"Today, many generics or store brands taste great and run about 25 percent less than their big-name counterparts," says Jim Hertel of the market research firm Willard Bishop, which specializes in the grocery industry. But you don't have to go completely off-label—just experiment and see what you can live with. Rice, pasta, and cereals are less likely to have noticeable differences in flavor or texture than, say, a spicy tomato sauce or peanut butter. Eating Out $30 x 24 times a year = $720 Going to restaurants is usually the first victim of the cost-cutting guillotine. But with the right strategies, you don't need to be a slave to your stove.

Buy gift certificates on the cheap.

Websites like restaurant.com offer them well below face value. Type in your zip code and you'll find a list of nearby participating restaurants that offer $25 certificates for $10. (Sometimes they have killer 80 percent off sales, so you can get a $25 one for only $2.) Done twice a month, you can pocket several hundred dollars over the course of a year.