Many times, when someone is having a difficult time making ends meet, there are one of two causes. They are either spending more than they make (living beyond their means), they earn too little to support their lifestyle, or both. This can usually be fixed with a little savvy frugality...coming up with a sensible spending plan to ensure that one isn't living beyond their means. However, sometimes...frugality just doesn't cut it.

Some people are on a fixed income. They have no means of making additional income, and they have already cut their spending to the bone. Some retirees may fall into this category, as well as disabled people living on Social Security. The hammering suffered by 401k accounts and the stock market certainly hasn't helped. When frugality isn't enough, what does one do then?

Other cultures have actually found a way to deal with situations like this. Extended families share the same home. The elderly move in with their kids. The parents cared for the kids when they were children, now it is time for the parents to be taken care of. Most Americans don't do this. They opt for their own space.

A friend of mine has recently encountered a situation like this. They are widowed, on a fixed income, and have no prospects of earning more money. Their home needs repairs, the kids are going back to school soon, and there is "too much month at the end of the money." The stress levels are high.

What to do when frugality isn't enough? Sometimes...people need to ask for help. If friends and family are unable to lend a helping hand, or if the needs extend beyond a loan of a few dollars and expenses like food and housing become unmanageable, it may be time to look at some of the community resources available, to see if there are "safety nets" that you may not be aware of.

These may include:

1. Food banks or community gardens. If getting enough food is an issue, there are organizations that can help. Food can be obtained from food banks, church pantries and other faith-based organizations, community gardens (where you can trade work in the garden for the food it produces) and programs like Angel Food Ministries. If you have low income, the food stamp program may be an option. The program doesn't really use "stamps" anymore. Now they use something that looks like a debit card.

2. Housing assistance. If you are having a problem paying the mortgage, consider refinancing, if possible. Otherwise, there are housing programs available at the local, state and federal level. Some of these offer rental assistance, while others offer low-cost, low-interest housing for sale.

3. Clothing. Many organizations offer free backpacks, school supplies and back-to-school clothing for kids. Usually, the family must meet certain income requirements and register with an organization like the Salvation Army. This is still yard sale season, so don't overlook the bargains that can be found there, as well as the new and used clothing that can be purchased at Goodwill.

If times really are tough, and there are no prospects for income of any kind, there are programs that can help. That is why they were established in the first place. Many people don't seek help due to one thing: pride. If it's a choice between my pride and feeding my kids, I will choose my kids every time. Start at GovBenefits.gov. Fill out the questionnaire available on the site. When you finish filling it out, it will list the specific programs for which you may be qualified, and how to apply for them.

Other resources:

Angel Food Ministries

Community Gardens

SHARE Food Network

Second Harvest

Federally-funded Health Centers

Housing assistance

Salvation Army

Goodwill

Dress for Success

Legal Aid

Nobody likes to be in a position where they must ask others for help, but help is available if you do need it.

As Americans sink deeper into anxiety over the failing economy, some are taking drastic steps. One of the behaviors that some are developing involves stockpiling...food, water, emergency supplies, etc. I'm not talking about stocking an emergency pantry in case there is an actual emergency such as natural disasters or prolonged periods of unemployment. These folks are developing something of a bunker mentality...in much the same way as people who were freaking out over Y2K almost ten years ago.

Don't get me wrong: stocking up for emergencies is not a bad thing. I have recommended it myself, prior to the current economic recession. However, I recommended having a few weeks to a few months worth of food staples on hand in case one were to lose their job and need to put food on their table for their families. The people quoted in a story about hoarders on The Today Show earlier today are stocking enough food for two years or more.

Preparing for bad economic times is not about worrying that the supermarket won't have enough food to sell. They will. Even during the Great Depression, there was plenty of food available for people to purchase. The problem was there were many people who couldn't afford it. We're not at that point yet. In fact, we're not even close. Stocking an emergency pantry is about having some food on hand in case you don't have the money to buy food, usually due to prolonged periods of unemployment. I still recommend having anywhere from eight weeks to six months worth of canned and dry good on hand, just in case.

You don't have to go nuts and spend your kid's college fund to buy this extra food, either. Whenever you see a sale on canned or dry goods (I get mine at Big Lots), buy a few extra cans and stick them away in a basement or closet designated as your emergency pantry. Then, hope you won't ever have to use it, but do use it before it expires. That's where the contents of my emergency pantry went. I stocked up prior to the current recession, but with expiration dates approaching, I finally had to eat the stuff. I'll be stocking up again soon....but nothing like the folks featured on The Today Show.

Besides, that poppy seed cake does not look appetizing at all. Watch the video...you'll see what I mean.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

In what may be a sign that restaurants are desperate to drum up business during a rough economy, some have begun resorting to doing something that seems to go agains their business plan: giving away food for free.

I suppose the hope is that if customers go to the restaurant for freebies, they also buy something to go along with the giveaway. Sonic Drive-In recently had a "free rootbeer float" night, something that I believe they have done in the past. Another restaurant, Shorty Small's, is giving away a free hambuger (one per table) if a customer tells the server "give me the burger, baby!" Each Wednesday throughout the summer, Arby's is giving away a free menu item with the purchase of a sandwich or a soft drink, depending upon the special of the week.

Most of these "free food" offers are found at fast-food or chain restaurants. Other restaurants aren't exactly giving food away, but they are making it much cheaper. Several fast food chains have expanded their "dollar menu" or "value menu" offerings in an effort to appeal to a wider customer base. Some restaurants/taverns are offering free food along with drink purchases during Happy Hour.

These lower prices are, of course, good for customers. However, keep in mind that most of them still require a purchase, and it can still be cheaper (and healthier) to just prepare your own food at home. But, if you plan to go out to eat anyway, go ahead and shop around. You just might be able to score some cheap (or free!) food.

Savvy Frugality is branching out and has spun off a brand new blog: Great Depression Recipes.

This blog grew from a blog post about Great Depression Recipes here at Savvy Frugality, and it really took on a life of its own. It is one of the most popular posts at Savvy Frugality, and I thought that since there is so much interest it is probably a subject that should have its own blog.

My grandmother lived through the Great Depression, and when I was a young boy I grew up listening to her stories about how difficult it was to live during that time. She would usually tell me about the difficulties of the Great Depression, and what her family ate to survive during that time. I remember her stories about baking bread with oatmeal because there was no flour, and feeding thistle and weeds to the cattle on her farm because there was no money for livestock feed.

Unfortunately, I never thought to write down her stories, or many of her wonderful recipes. My grandmother is no longer with us. It is my hope that others can share their parent's, grandparent's or great-grandparent's stories and recipes so that we can keep these memories alive, preserve a piece of history, and cook some tasty dishes from yesteryear.

So, please share your Great Depression-era recipes, and your family's stories from that era, and together we will all probably learn some very valuable (and delicious) lessons.

Email your Great Depression-era recipes and family stories to: savvyfrugality at hotmail.com (replace the word "at" with a @...just trying to thwart the spammers), and we'll feature them at Great Depression Recipes, giving you full credit, of course.

You have probably heard the old saying "everything old is new again." That has certainly become true during these tough economic times. People are turning to a lifestyle of Savvy Frugality not just out of some sense of trying to balance their budgets and save money, but as a matter of survival. Who better to ask for advice than someone's great-grandmother, who lived through the Great Depression?

That's where Clara Cannucciari comes in. For the past few years, 93-year-old Clara has been the star of her own Internet cooking show, Great Depression Cooking with Clara. The videos can be found at YouTube, and I have featured an episode here in this post. The show has its own web site and has even spawned a DVD, an upcoming cookbook and an appearance on the CBS Evening News.

The episodes of her online series are very interesting, not only for the simple fare that she cooks up based upon recipes her own mother used during the Great Depression, but also her stories of what it was like to live through that difficult period of American history. For example, we learn that people at lots of pasta and potatoes, and very little meat, during the Great Depresssion, and that one of Clara's neighbors rented their garage to some whiskey bootleggers to make extra money.

Whether you're trying to learn how to make your food dollars stretch, or you are just interested in hearing about what it was like to live during the Great Depression from someone who actually experienced it, Great Depression Cooking with Clara hits a home run on both counts. Besides, Clara is a very charming, likeable lady who is not only informative, but entertaining as well.

Check out an episode:

When times are tough, people get creative with the food they have available to make something not only edible, but downright delicious. I didn't grow up during the great depression. That was decades before my time. However, my grandmother did. She was an expert at taking the little bit of food she made on Social Security and stretching it into a pretty fantastic meal. One of my most enduring memories of her cooking when I was growing up was the many casseroles that she made. In Minnesota, these were known as "hotdish" (taken from the church suppers that are popular there, as in "bring a hot dish to pass around").

My favorite was my grandmother's tator-tot casserole. She also made a mean chicken-and-rice casserole, and was a master baker. We always had lots of cakes and cookies around the house.

With the U.S. facing one of the worst recessions since WWII, people are taking a renewed interest in cooking their own meals using simple ingredients, particularly using recipes from the Great Depression era. There tends to be a romanticized view of these recipes. Many people during the Great Depression went hungry, and ate things that we may not consider very tasty today. Still, each society has recipes that started out of necessity, and later became treasured family favorites. The idea was to be frugal, and make the best use of the ingredients that were available.

When I was growing up, that meant we at a lot of things that my father shot while he was hunting, or the fish that he caught from local lakes over the summer and froze. He also grew and canned or froze a lot of produce from a garden he maintained in our backyard. The reason was simple. We didn't have a lot of money back then, and that's how he put food on the table. To this day, those ingredients made some of the best meals I've ever eaten.

If you have any simple family recipes which use few ingredients available in most anybody's home, feel free to comment and post them here. I'm sure our readers would love to experiment with new recipes!

Related post: Great Depression Cooking with Clara

Savvy Frugality Recommended Reading: Finding a Job in a Bad Economy

I always look forward to the day after Thanksgiving. No, it's not for the Black Friday specials. I leave that insanity to my wife, who thrives on fighting fellow shoppers for deals. I like the day after Thanksgiving because of the LEFTOVERS! I'm one of those people who feels the Thanksgiving goodies like turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes are even better the second or third time around.

You don't have to be content with merely warming this stuff up in the microwave. You can give these ingredients a great second life by turning them into something else even more tasty. Here are a few things I do with my leftover bird (after all, who wants to waste good food?):

Turkey ala King (this is GREAT over egg noodles)
Turkey Noodle Soup (don't throw away the carcass of that bird. It make fantastic broth)
Turkey sandwiches (I like to heat up the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and put it between two slices of thick wheat bread spread with homemade cranberry sauce. Mmmm!)
Turkey salad
Turkey Pot Pie (great way to use up those leftovers!

Do you have any good recipes for using using up that leftover turkey? We'd love to hear them!

As fuel prices increase, the cost of other goods are going up too, especially food. My family's own grocery budget has doubled over the past 5 years to keep pace with increasing costs, and that is after using coupons, buying canned goods at discount and dollar stores, and taking advantage of programs like Angel Food Ministries. Now, my family has joined others in our area by saving on food costs by growing some of our own produce. I prefer to think of it as "urban gardening" or my own "recession Victory garden".

During the days of World War II, Victory Gardens were common sights. They were small plots of land, tubs of soil or sections of lawns tilled to grow fruits and vegetables so private citizens could provide some of their own food supply, so the nation's farmed goods could support the war effort. It is estimated that these urban gardens produced 40 percent of the produce consumed in the United States during the war.

These days, people are accustomed to running down to the corner market for a head of lettuce. But why not use the Victory Garden method to grow some of your own food and rely less on the produce at the market, which seems to be increasing in cost as fast as the price of fuel at the pump?

My family lives in a suburb, so our available land for planting fruits and vegetables is very small, but we cleared a 3 x 3 foot patch of lawn in our back yard and planted some fresh herbs like rosemary and Italian parsley, along with some basil. My wife also planted some arugula for salads. We have picked the greens for a few weeks now. Not only is it tastier and healthier than iceburg lettuce, but this same stuff would cost about $6 a pound at the supermarket. We are actually growing some of our own organic food, and consuming it at a significant savings.

If you live in an apartment, consider growing some herbs or tomatoes in flowerpots or window boxes. Many people who are getting started with urban gardening make the mistake of going all out and plowing a half acre of their backyard and planting every kind of vegetable known to the Western World. I have to admit, my own family made this mistake a few years ago. A number of things can go wrong if you don't know what you are doing. You could be planting vegetables out of season, your soil might be too acidic to support vegetables or you may simply produce more than you could possibly consume and your produce goes to waste unless you freeze it or can it. In my case, I went on a business trip and my family did not water the garden. My plants were brown and crispy by the time I returned home. For tips on growing in a non-farm setting, check out the helpful folks at UrbanGardeningHelp.com.

You may not be able to replace all of your produce with a small plot in your backyard or on the roof of your apartment building, but just like during WWII, every little bit helps. Besides, it's actually fun growing some of your own food!

The United States of America has long been known as "The Breadbasket of the World". Grains, soybeans and other food products have been exported from the U.S. to other parts of the world since the days when it was merely 13 colonies. Americans have always had plenty of food, with enough left over to send elsewhere.

But now there is disturbing news...news that isn't garnering much attention by most media outlets. The U.S. has been forced to import wheat due to shortages. Retailers are limiting the amount of rice, cooking oil, flour and pasta its customers can purchase, in an effort to ration the goods. Americans haven't experienced food rationing since World War II. There are also reports of Americans hoarding food.

Savvy Frugality recommended stocking an emergency pantry last year, when it appeared the U.S. economy was about to enter a downward spiral. Food prices have increased more than 80 percent over the past three years, and they are expected to get higher as fuel prices climb. Crop shortages have also let to higher prices, as well as speculative buying by investors.

What does this all mean to you? At best, food prices will continue to increase, and you may not be able to afford, or want to pay the price, of the items you would normally purchase. At worst, the food items you want may not be available at all. Savvy Frugality has been stocking up on canned goods when the prices have been low, and has a fully stocked pantry. I plan to make a bulk purchase of rice and and dried beans during my next food purchase, just in case. If you already have an emergency food pantry, great! If you have decided now is the time to start, you'll want to check out the best storage methods and expected shelf life of dried goods. Storing in an airtight container in a dry, cool place is the key.

Of course, if everybody starts making bulk purchases and hoarding food, skyrocketing prices and shortages will perpetuate and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's best to buy items when they are on sale, in reasonable quantities, and store extra each time you do your food shopping.

It is no coincidence that "affordable food" and "saving money on groceries" are now the most popular search terms at SavvyFrugality.com. While I don't believe the U.S. is returning to the days of bread lines and soup kitchens for the masses, food is going to continue to become more expensive, and some families may not be able to budget for that. Savvy Frugality will continue to post updates on how to get the most food for the dollar.

How about you? Have you increased your food budget or made cost-cutting measures to put food on the table? Please leave a comment and share your ideas with others!

With food prices on the rise, many people adopting frugal living principles are trying to stretch their grocery dollars by purchasing meats and vegetables when they go on sale, and then storing them in their freezer. There is no doubt about it...a good energy-efficient upright or chest freezer is probably the most frugal appliance once can have in their home. I have a regular freezer built into my refrigerator, but a chest freezer is definitely going to be my next appliance purchase. I'm just waiting for a great sale.

After awhile, there is always one question that comes up when people are freezing meats and casseroles for later use...how long can I freeze this stuff and still eat it? I'll never forget a disturbing episode at my grandmother's house. She had become quite ill and had to move into a nursing home, so it was up to our family to clean out her apartment and help her make the transition. As we cleaned out her freezer we discovered packages of meat which, according to the dates on the packages, had been stored for anywhere from two to five YEARS. Now, I knew my grandmother was something of a pack rat. She reused things not just once, but two or three times. Still, a five year old roast was something of a shock. There it was, tucked away in the top half of her refrigerator, as if it had been cryogenically preserved until it could be reanimated by scientists in the year 2525.

Shockingly, the USDA says food stored at zero degrees Fahrenheit remains safe to eat indefinitely. Only the quality of the food is reduced with long term freezing, not the safety. So, even though Grandma's five year old roast wouldn't send anyone to the hospital with a raging case of food poisoning, it probably wouldn't win any awards in the Pillsbury Bake-Off, either.

Even the dreaded "freezer burn" doesn't mean that food isn't safe to eat. It just means that part of it is dried out. The USDA says you can just cut the freezer burnt portion of the food and discard it, and the rest is fine to consume.

There are a few keys to remember when freezing your vittles. First, your freezer must be cold enough. That means zero degrees Fahrenheit. You must freeze your food as soon as you bring it home, and it must be frozen quickly. It is best to re-wrap your meat, rather than storing it in the supermarket packaging. I wrap our meats in aluminum foil first, and then place it inside of a plastic freezer bag, taking care to squeeze out all of the excess air before zipping it closed.

The USDA has plenty of other freezing tips, too. They also have a handy-dandy freezer storage chart. The chart indicates the length of time food can be frozen and still retain its quality, not the length of time until it goes "bad". As long as it is wrapped and frozen properly at zero degrees, the stuff in your freezer isn't going to send you to the emergency room.

Freezer Storage Chart (0 °F)
Note: Freezer storage is for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.

Item	Months
Bacon and Sausage	1 to 2
Casseroles	2 to 3
Egg whites or egg substitutes	12
Frozen Dinners and Entrees	3 to 4
Gravy, meat or poultry	2 to 3
Ham, Hotdogs and Lunchmeats	1 to 2
Meat, uncooked roasts	4 to 12
Meat, uncooked steaks or chops	4 to 12
Meat, uncooked ground	3 to 4
Meat, cooked	2 to 3
Poultry, uncooked whole	12
Poultry, uncooked parts	9
Poultry, uncooked giblets	3 to 4
Poultry, cooked	4
Soups and Stews	2 to 3
Wild game, uncooked	8 to 12

(USDA)

Your freezer really is a frugal food storage option when you can get the food items on sale, so freeze away for a rainy day.

I still don't recommend eating five year old beef roast, however.

With increasing fuel and commodities prices sending the cost of groceries even higher, one segment of the economy is apparently trying to lend consumers a helping hand by stretching their food dollar: fast food restaurants.

According to this story carried on MSN.com, restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's are expanding the selections on their so-called "dollar menus" to give their customers inexpensive options and keep them coming back for more, even as the economy slows.

I admit, I do hit the drive-through to work on occasion if I'm in a hurry to get to work and need a quick breakfast. Then I started thinking about it....sure, the items on the dollar menu are cheap enough, but are they really frugal?

I can get a sausage biscuit at McDonald's for 99 cents. That's pretty cheap, as sandwiches go, but is it possible to do better than that? I sat down and figured out the price of the same item, made from scratch at home. Surely, a big company like McDonald's, which gets all of its items in bulk, can produce this cheaper than I can at home. At least, that's what I thought.

My wife makes our biscuits from scratch, using the homemade baking mix recipe that we use for a lot of our pancakes, biscuits and waffles. She probably spends about $5 purchasing all of the items needed to make the baking mix, so one biscuit is literally produced for pennies. OK, so how about the sausage?

The last one pound roll of sausage we purchased at the grocery store cost 89 cents at the discount grocer we use. Each roll contains about 8 servings. That's about 11 cents per serving. Let's say for the sake of argument the biscuit actually cost 25 cents in materials (that's on the high end). So, if I were to make the same sausage biscuit at home, I can get it for 36 cents. That's still cheaper than McDonald's dollar menu, and I have to admit, the home version tastes better, too.

A cost savings of 53 cents doesn't sound like much, and it isn't. However, if one is accustomed to eating a quick dollar menu item three times a week, that's about 100 dollars over the course of a year. That's about a week's worth of groceries in my home, for a family of four. When put into that perspective, the dollar menu doesn't seem all that frugal at all.

Of course, we should all be eating something healthier each morning than a sausage biscuit. After all, there is no such thing as frugal heart bypass surgery.

I started my journey to frugal living about five years ago, when my family's finances were about as bad as they could get. We narrowly escaped homelessness, and bill collectors were calling and harassing us during all hours of the day and night. I knew that if I was going to improve our situation, we needed to do two things: increase our income and drastically reduce our spending. One of the books that helped set us on the right path was The Tightwad Gazette.

The Tightwad Gazette is actually a collection of newsletter entries written by Amy Dacyczyn, who no longer writes the newsletter, nor has she written any other books beyond the three Tightwad Gazette editions. In fact, I Googled her name and couldn't find any updated information about her at all. She seems to have stepped out of the spotlight. However, the books contain sage advice that is still good today (plus some ideas that are so stingy I never bothered to try them). Here are a few ideas from the first edition of the book that I found especially helpful:

10 Painless Ways to Save $100 this Year:

1. Purchase 10 article of clothing from thrift shops instead of department stores
2. Hang 4 loads of laundry per week instead of using the dryer
3. Once a month make pizza from scratch instead of having it delivered
4. Write a good letter instead of making a monthly long distance phone call (obviously, this was written before email became common and cell phone providers started offering free nights and weekends)
5. Reduce your soda consumption by four cans per week
6. Bake two loaves of bread per week
7. Make your children's birthday cakes and decorations instead of buying
8. Reduce your smoking by three cigarettes per day (or quit altogether and save even more).
9. Reduce your milk consumption by using powdered milk for baking and cooking
10. Pack 4 inexpensive school lunches per week

Keep a Price Book of the items you commonly buy at the supermarket, and list the prices you find at different stores in your area. By keeping track of the prices of these items, you will know when a sale is truly a bargain, and which store has the best prices.

Three ways to save money:

1. Buy it cheaper
2. Make it last longer
3. Use it less

Store brands are almost always cheaper than name brands, even if you use coupons.

For your pets:

1. Stick with name-brand foods. It's usually healthier.
2. Do not overfeed your pet. Use the feeding guidelines on the package.
3. Dry food is just as healthy as canned food, and is cheaper.
4. Don't buy dry pet foods in bulk. The vitamins degrade over time.
5. Avoid switching your pet's food. They really don't need variety in their diet.
and I'll add this one of my own:
6. Always keep up on your pet's vaccinations. It's cheaper than your pet getting sick and running up vet bills.

Don't forget, we are still looking for YOUR frugal tips. The person with the best tip will win a copy of The Tightwad Gazette.

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.