Are You as Frugal as You Should Be?

1. There's a mass of coins sitting at the bottom of your purse. You:
   • Use them to give exact change for all your purchases until your bag is cleared out
   • Add them to your change jar, and use the contents to buy savings bonds for your child's college fund whenever the total reaches $25
   • Put them into an empty coffee can, and use the weighted can as a doorstop

2. It's back-to-school time. To outfit your kids, you:
   • Hit the mall, buy them the season's latest of everything and put it all on plastic. You'll wince two weeks later when the credit card bill comes and you see exactly how much you spent
   • Set a specific amount to spend on each child and try to get them the basics within that budget. Still, you feel guilty that you can't get everything they want, and end up giving in on some items they beg really hard for
   • Head into your storage closet, where a whole new wardrobe is waiting for each of them. You stocked up over the past months by buying at deep discounts at end-of-season sales and by hitting better-quality thrift shops

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