Everybody knows when times are tight at home. There seems to be "too much month at the end of the money". There isn't enough cash to go out and do things that are "fun" without worrying about how bills are going to get paid. In effect, you're "robbing Peter to pay Paul." But how do you know if it's just a temporary setback, or if you're in deep, deep money trouble?

Looking back at a time in my life when money problems were a constant worry, I can remember five distinct signs that I had to take drastic action immediately, or my family and I were going to end up living in my sister-in-law's basement:

1. You frequently have overdraft notices from the bank. If your financial life is in harmony, you should never have overdraft notices from your bank. If you are constantly finding yourself with more going out of your checking count than coming in, you've got big problems.

2. You avoid answering the phone because you're afraid a creditor is calling. This is just another sign that you owe somebody money -- money you can't afford to pay.

3. You avoid going to the doctor because you can't afford the bill. If you don't have adequate insurance through your job, it's time to find another job. There is nothing more important than your health.

4. You have no "extra" money. If all of your money is going to household bills, and you have nothing left over, you need to start paying your most important creditor first: you. Everybody, notice I said "everybody", should have something in a savings account.

5. You are constantly behind on basic necessities like rent and utilities. You either can't afford the home you have, or you are spending too much money on things that aren't really necessities.

A few years ago, I had all of the financial symptoms listed above. At the time, I really didn't know how to pull myself out of this situation. After all, there was only so much money to go around. After finding myself practically homeless, I finally took a good, long, hard look at how I was managing my money, and I realized that I wasn't really managing my money at all. I just paid what I could when I could. That is no way to live. Here is what I did to finally get my financial house in order:

1. I became obsessive-compulsive about my checking account. I opened a checking account in my name only (my wife was not pleased, but she made her own money and she opened her own account). All household bills are paid from this account, and nothing gets spent without it being noted in the check book register. I balance this account DAILY. The overdrafts stopped.

2. I contacted my creditors. I didn't wait for them to call me. I worked out payment plans with all of them. Some of the creditors wouldn't leave me alone, so I wrote them a letter telling them to stop calling me. You are allowed to do this under the Fair Debt Collect Practices Act. This doesn't let you off the hook for your debt, but creditors cannot harass you by phone if you tell them to stop.

3. I got a different job with adequate health insurance. Sure, I liked my previous job, but I've got to look out for number one. A job is no good to you if you are too unhealthy to work.

4. I made saving a higher priority than spending. My savings account gets paid before any of my creditors. Period. Nobody is going to take care of me in an emergency except me.

5. I downsized my life. I came to realize how many of my "needs" were really "wants". You may "want" a nice TV, a gym membership and a subscription to Netflix, but you don't really "need" it. It's a matter of priorities. What is more important: providing your household with its basic necessities, or spending money on a bunch of things that won't matter five years from now? Once you have that figured out, the rest of your financial life will fall into place.

Broke Grad Student hosts this week's edition of the Festival of Frugality. Savvy Frugality's post, The Frugal Freezer is included in this week's festival. Broke Grad Student makes the point that when they hear the word "frugality", they think of Ramen Noodles. Personally, I think the word "frugality" is another words for "smart", which is how Savvy Frugality got its name.

Other noteworthy posts from this week's Festival of Frugality:

FANDD explains how being cheap can hurt your career at Go To The Ant.

Kyle at Amateur Asset Allocator shares 5 Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance Premiums.

Kris discusses how to Save Money on Seasonings: MYOM (Make Your Own Mix) at Cheap Healthy Good.

Enjoy the other great entries at this week's Festival of Frugality!

As promised, I am posting my monthly update on my progress toward my frugal New Year's resolutions. Once again, here is a look at the original resolution, and my update for the month of February:

1. Rebuild my emergency fund. This got wiped out when my wife became disabled and was unable to work. I am going to build a $1,000 emergency fund to start.
Update: I had built the fund up to $600, but had to spend it on, you guessed it, an emergency. My family got socked with higher-than-expected utility bills for the month of January. Some of this was from final utility bills at our former residence. I also had to take my dog to the veterinarian for some emergency surgery. As it stands now, I have about $250 in my emergency fund, so I actually took a step backwards.

2. Eliminate debt. I hope to eliminate at least $10,000 in debt this year.
Update: I have paid off roughly $1,000 in debt so far, but acquired some new debt in the form of medical bills. Still, after I rebuild my emergency fund I will be back on track to eliminate additional debt.

3. Save for a new home. I want to save for a down payment on my own home.
Update: I realized I am still eligible for a VA loan for a home due to my military service in the Navy. I am still saving for a home, but probably won't have to save as much as I originally thought. I want to eliminate some debt before socking away money for the home.

4. Contribute to my IRA. I hope to contribute at least 10 percent of my income to my IRA.
Update: I am currently saving 10 percent of my income, but for now it is going into my emergency fund. After I get the fund back to $1,000 that money will go into the retirement fund.

5. Continue to live below my means. This is a never-ending challenge. If you can live on less money than you earn, the rest of your financial life falls into balance.
Update: My family and I are following a carefully crafted spending plan, with certain percentages of my income being alloted for specific spending categories. So far, so good. I have money to pay all of the monthly bills, put into savings and eliminate debt, even though I had to dip into emergency savings this month for unexpected expenses. We are a one-income household, and we are definitely middle class, so all in all...I think we are doing a decent job so far!

When Warren Buffet makes a comment about the U.S. economy, even an off-handed comment, people take notice. Buffet, who is one of the richest men in the world and the second-richest in the U.S and often quoted for his sage investment advice, recently told CNBC, and later Forbes Magazine, that the U.S. is basically in a recession, due in no small part to the mortgage crisis. With many homes now not worth what people owe on them, many have lost significant portions of their net worth.

Now, Savvy Frugality is no Warren Buffet, but we did start warning of the storm clouds on the horizon back in September. If you didn't start implementing the six steps to recession-proof your finances, there is still time. I have been saving at least ten percent of each paycheck and reducing expenses at home, and stocking my pantry with extra canned goods.

Buffet isn't all doom and gloom about the U.S. economy. He says Berkshire Hathaway will continue to invest in good U.S. companies which he predicts will endure any recession just fine. Geico, Costco, Coca-Cola and American Express are some of those companies specifically mentioned by Buffet. I would also add Wal-Mart and Walgreens to that list.

Savvy Frugality tip: Even in a poor economic market, there is still money to be made. Concentrate on companies which are able to withstand temporary economic downturns, especially those that offer value for money, or offer something that people will need no matter what the economy is doing, such as oil, medicines or food.

I read a lot of other personal finance blogs every day. There is some great reading out there in the blogosphere, and a lot of the advice is better than what I find at many of the other finance and investment web sites. I have decided that I will spread the Link Love each Sunday, and give Savvy Frugality readers some insight into the other personal finance blogs that I read and enjoy.

This will also give me a chance rest and relax and get over a stomach virus I've been battling for the past week. During that span of time, my weight plunged from 190 to almost 180 pounds. Losing that much weight that fast isn't healthy, as you might imagine, and I'm still feeling pretty weak.

With that being said, here are this week's recommendations for Savvy Sunday:

Wise Bread has an interesting article on Stashing Your Cash With Pump Action Portion Control. We recently started using pump bottles for our hand soap and dish detergent, and it does seem we have been using less of both lately.

Get Rich Slowly has a nice guest post on protecting your personal finances if you're going into business for yourself. If your business tanks, and many new businesses do, you don't want your personal finances to suffer, too. I've been thinking about starting my own business for a long time, but for now am sticking with freelance writing.

The Digerati Life tells us how to Get to a Million Dollars with Small Change.

Still, having a million dollars doesn't necessarily help you sleep better at night (although I would). Consumerism Commentary says many Middle Class Millionaires are Concerned about their Financial Future.

Trent over at The Simple Dollar says there are many ways of investing in yourself, and they aren't all related to money. Check out Trent's series on investing in yourself. There is some great advice about self-improvement here.

Enjoy your Sunday reading, and stay up-to-date with the latest posts from Savvy Frugality by subscribing to our RSS feed.

I have always been a big fan of the faucet-mounted Pur water filter. It produces great, clean, pleasant-tasting water at a fraction of the price of bottled water. Each Pur filter produces about 100 gallons of filtered water which rivals anything I've tasted out of a bottle...for mere pennies.
However, I have found something even better.

Last night my wife and I were taking advantage of a store-wide 25 percent-off sale at Walgreen's. There, I noticed something in the housewares aisle: a Walgreen's brand faucet-mounted water filtering system. It's actually made by Culligan, but sold under the Walgreen's brand name. At about $15, the faucet mount and filter cost less than a replacement filter for the Pur system. We needed to replace our Pur filter anyway, so we bought it. With the 25 percent discount and my son's Walgreens employee discount, the whole unit was about $10.

There are a couple of major differences between the Walgreen's/Culligan filter and the Pur filter. First, there is no indicator on the Walgreen's faucet mount to tell you when to change the filter. However, the Walgreen's filter lasts twice as long as the Pur filter, filtering 200 gallons of tap water. That's about two month's worth of drinking water, so you just put a reminder on your calendar to change the Walgreen's filter after two months.

The water from the Walgreen's filter tastes every bit as good as the water from the Pur filter. Replacement filters for the Walgreen's unit are about $10, nearly half the price of the replacement Pur filters.

Savvy Frugality Tip: Seek store brands not only for food and paper good items, but housewares and other things you purchase on a monthly basis. This move could save plenty of money over time. My move from the Pur filter to the Walgreen's filter saved me 50 percent.