A lot of the press that we read, see and hear nowadays is about how horrible the economy is without a whole lot of suggestions of what to do about it.

The bulk of what I have seen is about investment accounts with admonishments to pay down debt and even to snip your credit cards into pieces.

I'm supportive of scrutinizing one's budget and minimizing the use of credit, but after that's done, most of us will just sit back and wait for our personal microcosms to get better.

And though I don't think of myself as a penny pincher, I do think this is a good time to reassess how Americans spend money and how we might relearn the meaning of frugality.

And you shouldn't feel alone about being frugal. Some of the wealthiest people in the world practice penny pinching.

The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad (worth about $31 billion) wears denim shirts and drives a '93 Volvo.

The second wealthiest American on the planet, Warren Buffett, still lives in the house he bought in 1958 for $31,000 dollars, and he prefers burgers and Cherry Coke to steak and wine.

My mother-in-law, The Russian Beauty Queen is an excellent example of someone who can stretch a dollar. Mom was born here, but she's still so Russian that she can make delicious piroshki in the dark with one pan, an egg, a half pound of flour and a can of sterno.

Mom shops at discount stores and finds many high end products for sale at a fraction of their original value.

She also took out a reverse mortgage on her home and now receives a check each month to supplement her social security. (Information on this is found all over the Internet.)

Eating out can be expensive, but when you're really fed up (pardon the pun) with meals at home, you can split an entr/e at nearly any restaurant. Places like the new Chipotle Mexican restaurant and Taco Del Mar serve those gigantic burritos. Mrs. Anthony just cuts it in half and we're good to go.

We also sometimes order just salads and appetizers, skipping the expense of a whole meal.

Soft drinks (or hard drinks) are big markups on your ticket, so consider water or just coffee instead.

Sell your junk- Craigslist is free and it's easy to use. You would be surprised how much somebody might want your old barb-b-que, vintage skis, lightly used clothing or leather couch.

If you don't have a computer, go to the library and bring your nephew or niece; he or she knows how to use the infernal machine.

Kill the lights, Jack- Do you really need to have the porch light on all night? Get a motion sensor. New Lumber and Hardware sells them pretty cheap. Mrs. Anthony and I often admonish each other to turn off the light when we leave a room.

Yeah, it's sometimes annoying, but the bill is lower at the end of the month. And while you're at it, consider using multi-plug strips with off/on switches. When you're gone for the day, hit the off switch and kill those phantom power suckers like TVs, DVD players, computers and printers.

Knock off the Mochas- You know they're horrifically expensive. Don't make me add up the annual cost, you don't want to hear it. What? You do?

OK, A fairly typical latte habit costs about $3.50 a day. That's $24.50 a week, $105 a month, and $1,277.50 a year. Ouch...but you asked for it.

Cancel subscriptions - I would be remiss if I suggested that you stop this newspaper from coming to your home.

It's a great bargain and look at all the money you're going to save from these great tips. Cancel those other papers though, and the magazines you never have time to read too.

Change your cell phone habits. This will tough, but the amount of money and time most people spend on their cell phones is staggering. Try leaving it at home to start. You lived just fine without it before, you'll survive using it much less in the future.

You can also change your plan, like we did, to a $15 dollar a month emergency plan. Then, you'll pay a premium for additional minutes, but once you see that first bill, the shock will help to curb your appetite for long conversations.

If you're still addicted to it with no remorse, consider dropping your landline. There's an instant $25 bucks a month in your pocket. (You're welcome).

Remember when TV used to be free? If you're an antenna person like we are, now that the gov'mint has mandated that the analog TV signal be abandoned by broadcasters, you will have to choose between buying a converter box for $40 bucks or upgrading to cable or the Dish Network.

The only other option is to do like we're doing and that is to just let it go blank.

Radical yes, and maybe I'll cave later on and pop for the box, but we have decided to use the cutoff date as a marker for an experiment to see how long we can go without broadcast television. I'll keep you posted on our progress.