One of the areas in which I save money is in clothing. I only buy clothing when it is necessary, such as when a clothing item shrinks, becomes hopelessly stained or just plain doesn't fit anymore because I have gained some weight. As you know, I'm working on the weight issue. I buy solid-colored, classic-styled clothes that stay in fashion for long periods of time. I stay away from fad items which will look horribly dated the next year.

It has been a while since I purchased a suit, and after accidentally washing a pair of dry clean-only suit pants, I found myself needing a new suit for an upcoming company Christmas party. Luckily, there is a Stein Mart near my home.

Stein Mart is a lot like T.J. Maxx or Burlington Coat factory. It sells name brand clothing at closeout prices. Even in these stores, I stick to the clearance racks to save even more money. It was there that I found my new suit today: a dark gray, pinstriped men's Claiborne three-button two-piece suit. Normally, this suit retails for $400. The Stein Mart price was $239. However, I got it from the clearance rack, and today there was a 50 percent off sale. My price, after tax: $113. Total savings: $287 off retail.

Whenever possible, NEVER pay full retail for clothing. You CAN get nice, name brand clothing which will last you for years for a very low price, if you know where to look.

Bottom line: always check clearance racks.

It has been awhile since I have posted my weight loss update. You may have read previous posts in which I detailed my desire to drop back down to a healthy 165 pounds. It shouldn't be that difficult. After all, if people can drop hundreds of pounds on "The Biggest Loser", I should be able to lose 20 pounds, right?

I am operating under the mantra "eat less, move more". December is my busiest month at work, so I haven't lived up to the "move more" half of my plan, but I have been eating less. I suffered a setback over Thanksgiving, and actually gained weight.

This week, I am happy to report that I have dropped from 188 pounds to 182. It wasn't difficult to lose the six pounds over the course of two weeks. I just simply ate less. Actually, I ate less junk. I dropped a lot of carbs from my diet. No, I'm not on Atkins. I haven't cut out bread, potatoes or pasta altogether...I just eat less of it. Also, no junk food such as nachos or potato chips. I do allow myself popcorn on weekends. I am addicted to popcorn.

Tomorrow, I plan to go for a walk around the park near my home. Hopefully I'll have another weight loss update next week, as I aim for 165 pounds.

One of the reasons that Americans have runaway credit card debt is because of Christmas shopping. Each year, we as a country spend way beyond our means to get our loved ones that "perfect" gift. I remember the first year my sister was married she and her husband actually took out a loan in order to buy everyone in our family (and we have a large family) a Christmas gift. When the next Christmas rolled along, they were still paying for the Christmas presents they purchased the previous year. That's insane!

My wife and I figured there was certainly a better way to celebrate Christmas than going deep into debt. In fact, our very first Christmas together we limited ourselves to one gift each...and it couldn't cost any more than $20. Our reasoning was that we already purchased what we really needed during the rest of the year, so why should Christmas be a license to go crazy and spend a ton of money we didn't have? Besides, we were broke, so that's all we could afford. We certainly didn't spend beyond our means that year.

Since then, we set a budget for each Christmas. Once we hit that dollar amount, we're done Christmas shopping, no matter how many gifts are under the tree. These are a few ways we keep Christmas costs under control and celebrate a very frugal holiday:

1. Set a budget for Christmas shopping, and stick to it!

2. Shop around for your holiday meal, just like you would for presents. Ham is usually pretty cheap this time of year, but you can still get good deals on turkey. One year, I received a duck as my Christmas bonus at work, and that was our Christmas meal. Yes, you read that right. A duck was my Christmas bonus.

3. Only buy gifts for immediate family (those that live in your home). If you are visiting relatives for the holiday, consider a name swap, secret Santa or just buy a small gift for the kids.

4. If you really want to watch your spending, you could also set a spending limit PER GIFT, and limit the number of gifts.

5. Once you set your spending budget, pay for everything in cash. NO CREDIT CARDS, and certainly don't take out a loan to buy Christmas presents. I still can't believe my sister did that.

6. Send Christmas cards and family photos to your extended family. I suppose you could send the good ol' family newsletter, too...or you could just make a phone call on Christmas day, which I think is better (I get unlimited long distance).

7. Remember, nobody is going to love you less because you didn't buy a specific Christmas gift. I can't even remember what I got last Christmas. Really.

8. Focus on what Christmas is REALLY all about (it's not the presents).

9. If you're crafty, try making a few gifts yourself. Gifts don't have to be purchased at a store. My grandmother used to make her own Christmas ornaments, and she gave them each year as gifts. I still have a few on my tree this year, and some of them are more than 30 years old. Now, THAT'S the gift that keeps on giving!

The one thing that my family splurges on each year is our tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas day. We started this back when it was just my wife and I and we had nothing else to do that day, and we noticed the movie theater was open. We weren't the only ones there. Christmas is a HUGE day for movies. We have been going every Christmas since then, and we usually see a family movie. This year, it's going to be National Treasure II. It beats sitting around the house and watching It's a Wonderful Life for the 378th time.

Last week's Festival of Frugality was #102, but this week's is also #102. I don't know...maybe somebody miscounted. No matter. Lazy Man and Money hosts this week's Festival of Frugality #102, and there is some darn good frugal advice there. These are a few of my picks, but check out Lazy Man's site and read them all:

Cheap Health Good gives roughly a thousand ways to find quality kitchen equipment on the cheap.

Free Money Finance remixes his money saving tips to create the top 10 most hated money saving tips I actually do a few of these myself. I have thought of moving to a foreign country after I retire (Panama), and I really should do #8.

My Wealth Builder has some good frugal living philosophies

The Wastrel Show has come up with some ways to survive an economic slowdown I have posted about this one myself here at Savvy Frugality.

Millionaire Mommy has an article about investing as a beginner

Once my family and I had moved to Oklahoma, I went to the library and started reading everything I could about frugal living, saving money and getting out of debt. The Tightwad Gazette became a Bible to me, as I took over the family finances for the first time during a nearly 18-year marriage.

I opened a checking account under my own name, so I could be accountable for every penny and nickel both going into and coming out of the account. My wife protested that move, but I told her she would simply have to open her own account and be responsible for it. I needed to know EXACTLY how much money was in the account we used to pay household bill, and I couldn't do that if she was using the ATM card every other day and not giving me the receipts.

I drew up a strict budget. It covered all household expenses, with a little left over for savings and for minor expenses until the next pay day. I got a copy of my credit report and contacted all of my creditors, and made arrangements to either pay them off or enter a payment plan. For debt that was past the statute of limitations in Oklahoma, I wrote letters to zombie debt collectors demanding they stop calling my home and offer proof that I actually owed the debts. They all stopped bothering me. The one or two that did offer proof of my debt agreed to lower payoff amounts in exhange for agreeing to remove old debts from my credit report.

I opened a savings account, and I treated it like a bill. It was the first thing I "paid" after each paycheck, and in no time at all I had an emergency fund of about $600. I signed up for my new employer's 401k plan and contributed every pay period.

My wife and I made it a point of discussing every debt and household expense, and I adopted a new mantra when it came to shopping for clothing and household goods: never pay full retail. I purchased clothing from eBay and the clearance racks at stores. I purchased groceries from dollar stores and discount supermarkets. I fed a family of four plus a dog and a cat for $250 per month, and we ate well.

I adopted frugal living strategies developed by my grandmother, a woman who lived for nearly 30 years on nothing more than a Social Security check. Even so, she managed to buy new clothes, a new (used) car every few years and serve large family dinners during the holidays. She was doing something right.

My family has had a few financial speed bumps since that time, but I now make more money than at any other time of my life, I support a family of four (my wife can't work anymore) and we are able to pay all of our household expenses. The only debts I have are some medical bills (accumulated during a time we didn't have medical insurance) a car payment, a student loan and a tax bill.

If I had not adapted a lifestyle of Savvy Frugality, who knows where my family would be now? We could have been homeless, hungry and without hope. Now, things have turned around, we have a bright future ahead of us, and we can now save for our retirement and our own home. My goal is to accumulate enough wealth through frugal living and investments to be able to start my own business and then hopefully retire before the age of 60.

Impossible? Maybe. But then again, I was nearly homeless just five years ago, and now I'm dreaming of early retirement and business and home ownership.

After my wife was released from the hospital, I took her home and began nursing her back to health. Luckily, my job search was starting to pay off. I landed two job interviews, but they were both out-of-state. I would have to leave my family behind to go and try to land one of these jobs.

I flew to Phoenix, Arizona and interviewed for a job which was actually located in Oklahoma City. I had never been to Oklahoma, and really didn't know what to expect, but I knew I needed that job, or my family would be sleeping in a car in two weeks. I was offered the job on the spot.

I flew back to New York and started packing my clothes, a sleeping bag and a small TV. I also started packing my family's belongings. They would have to finish packing up the rest of the household without me while I went to Oklahoma City to start my new job. With no emergency fund, I had to withdraw all of my cash from my 401k account to pay for the move, my trip to Oklahoma City and for a security deposit on a new apartment once I got to Oklahoma. I had to do this with a total of about $3,000, after paying a huge penalty for early withdrawal from my 401k account.

It took me two days to drive to Oklahoma City, and I had to do everything on the cheap. Instead of renting a motel room on the way to Oklahoma, I slept in my car at a truck stop. It was January, so I had to keep the engine running with the window cracked open while I slept so I would have heat. I ate two meals a day, lunch and dinner, and I bought everything off the dollar menu at McDonalds' to conserve cash. My new employer arranged for me to stay in a hotel once I got to Oklahoma City, but I had only one day to locate a new apartment.

Once I got to Oklahoma City, I rented the first place I found. The security deposit was $300, but I convinced the apartment manger to let me pay $110 on the spot, and the rest after I got my first paycheck from my new job. After this, I had a grand total of $70 left to live on until I got paid, presumably in two weeks. I had no pots or pans to cook with, only my clothing, sleeping bag and television. Luckily, it was the middle of the month, so the utilities and cable TV service were still working. I ate frozen burritos I purchased at 7-11 for 79 cents, and buckets of chicken I found at a local restaurant, 10 pieces for $6.99. One bucket would last me 3 or 4 days, and it included biscuits and sides.

I reserved the rest of my money from my 401k for a moving truck and movers, and to bring the rest of my family to Oklahoma City. After working at my new job for about a week, my wife called. She was simply too ill to pack the rest of the apartment on her own to move. I would have to drive back to New York, finish packing our items for the movers, clean the apartment and drive my family back to Oklahoma City...all over the course of 3 days.

I did get that accomplished, and we left New York the day before we were to be officially evicted. We headed for Oklahoma, and a new life.

(Part 3 continues tomorrow)

It's hard to believe, but it was five years ago this month that my family and I were essentially homeless.

A series of events happened which led to us being without a home. First, a deposit at our bank didn't get credited, which led to several checks bouncing. Of course, the bank then charged my account overdraft fees, which compounded the problem. My wife began paying our rent (she paid all of the bills back then) with money orders, to avoid any further overdrafts. We did this for about six months.

Then, one day, we got a call from our apartment complex's management company. They told us they had not received a rent payment for six months. We told them yes we did pay our rent. We mailed our money orders on the first of each month like clockwork. The management company, located in another state, said they had no record of payments and that we should locate our money order receipts.

Unfortunately, while cleaning our apartment, somebody in my family (we don't know who) threw them all away, along with a bunch of other financial documents. We had no proof that we paid our rent. Our landlords filed papers to have us evicted, unless we could come up with several thousand dollars. Having no emergency fund to fall back on, we couldn't.

At about the same time my employer was bought out by a new company. The manager of the new company asked me to do several tasks and jobs for him before his company took over. At this point, I didn't even know if the new company was going to keep me on after they took over. So I asked. There was a pause. "Never mind, we'll find someone else to do it," he said. I began looking for a new job.

A couple of weeks later, my wife had severe pains in her abdomen. I rushed her to the hospital. After a few tests, she was scheduled for emergency surgery. She had a cyst on one of her ovaries that threatened to burst. If it did, she could bleed to death. She had to have a total hysterectomy. My sons and I sat in the waiting room for hours, until finally the surgeon came out and said the operation went well, but it was a very close call for my wife. The ovary burst as they removed it. She would need to be hospitalized for a few days.

Tired and depressed, I went back to my apartment, where I found an eviction notice waiting for me. I had 30 days to move out. I then checked the messages on my phone. There was a voice mail from my new boss notifying me I had been fired. He was bringing in his own people. I had no job, no home, my wife was in the hospital and soon my family would have no health insurance, either. This was easily the lowest moment of my life.

It was at that moment that I made a decision. I could either let these challenges defeat me, or I could take control of my life and control my own destiny. No longer would I go through life spending every dime in my paycheck. No longer would I let myself be in the dark about my family's finances. No longer would I let my family go through life with no safety net. It was time to make drastic changes and they had to be made immediately.

(Read Part 2 of "Why I Chose a Life of Savvy Frugality" tomorrow)

I like to think that there is plenty of great frugal living advice here at Savvy Frugality, but there are many, many other blogs out there on the subject, and I like to highlight them here through the Festival of Frugality, a blog carnival on frugal living. Of course, Savvy Frugality participates in the festival, too. Here are some blog posts from the latest festival which caught my eye:

Be Organized and Be Frugal

Slash Your Winter Heating Bills – 7 Free Ways to Save Money This Winter

How to Bid to Win on eBay and Save a Fortune

#5: Live Below Your Means