I have found that a simple spiral notebook, 15 cents during back to school sales, is all I need for keeping track of when bills are due and looking ahead to future payments, especially those yearly things that always surprise people. The system I follow, set up by me for me, has helped me through out the last 10+ years.

2. Borrow a Kill-O-Watt Meter. My public library actually loans them out. Plug any appliance into it to get an idea how much energy different household appliances use up.

3. If you can’t string up a clothesline, you can still buy drying racks; I use mine all the time.

You may want to revisit the possibility of using computer-generated coupons. It took a while for some grocers to catch on, but more are accepting them now.

I once signed up for a minor repairs for the homeowner class with continuing education, but they canceled the class due to lack of interest, which was disappointing.

Buying a coupon organizer seems like overkill, especially the 3-ring binder. I keep mine in an envelope.

Buying cookbooks is really unnecessary since you can find all the recipes you want, plus reviews of them by other readers, on many online recipe sites like http://www.recipezaar.com.

I think a slow cooker saves you some money becus you can buy cheap cuts of meat that take hours to tenderize, but the main advantage of the slow cooker is that it saves time.

Another class that would be good is a computer building and maintanece class – it costs a lot less for you to do it yourself (building a computer) and if you know how to maintain it ( clean viruses, etc.) it will last much longer.

I use Budget made by Snowmint Creative Solutions, but there are a lot of good programs available. The one I use features a virtual “envelope system” and has made all the difference in how my husband and I allocate, spend and save our money.

The Budget program comes with free lifetime upgrades, a free trial version and a money-back guarantee. The company provides excellent customer service, too.