Forever Frugal

The Wall Street Journal had an article some months ago about how many people who changed their shopping habits when the recession first hit are maintaining their frugal ways.  Some of this is because the economy still hasn't improved, and so people are continuing to cut back.  Some of it is because people have found that saving money in small consistent ways makes sense -- and doing otherwise is a waste of hard-earned dollars.  Here are the most commonly cited changes:

• Buying generic or house/private-label brands of both grocery items and health & beauty products.
• Scouring sales.
• Clipping coupons.
• Shopping at dollar stores and bulk food stores.
• Shopping with a list - and sticking to it, no matter what temptations the store offers.
• Driving less.