Cutting back from two incomes to one isn't unusual for boomer couples. Many find themselves downsized, retired or with a need to spend more time caring for fractious teens or aging parents.
Jonni McCoy offers a wealth of suggestions online for Miserly Moms to make the most of their money. You'll find recipes for making your own gourmet coffees, and links to frugal home decorating and gardening sites.
The Consumer Literacy Consortium is a group of federal and state government agencies, consumer groups, business organizations and educational institutions. Its Web site offers 66 Ways to Save Money on transportation, banking, insurance, utilities and housing.
You can have the Frugal Living Newsletter delivered bimonthly to your home by snail mail. Or send your kid to the Savvy Student Web site to cultivate money-saving habits at school.
Join others online in the pursuit of bargains and a simplified lifestyle by signing up for a newsgroup. Recent topics at the misc.consumers.frugal-living newsgroup included frugal flea control and cellular phones.
Perhaps after a lifetime of counting your pennies, you're ready to break out of the frugal rut. Trouble is, your income may not match your inclinations. Grab a copy of Shel Horowitz's The Penny-Pinching Hedonist (Accurate Writing & More, $17), which teaches "how to live like royalty with a peasant's pocketbook." He says it's the only book that shows you how to save money on fun.
