Recession Mama: I like my computer. I like my computer -- FAST. I don't like having to call someone to come to my house to make my computer fast again at $75 an hour. So I have learned to do it myself and now, I'm passing that information on to you.

(Note: These tips are for a PC; if you have a Mac, Google "make your Mac run faster" to find out how to do this on your computer.)

First, set a restore point just in case you end up doing something bad. Go to "Help and Support" on your computer and find it there, if you don't know how to do that. Then do a disk cleanup to remove all sorts of junk -- cookies, temporary Internet files, etc. Did you know every time you look at a page on the Internet, your computer saves a picture of it? EVERY TIME ...

If you haven't done a disk defragmentation in a while, do that. Defragmentation is a process that reorganizes your hard drive more efficiently by making sure files are kept together to speed up performance. Both of these processes can be found through "Help and Support" if you can't find them.

A speedier cleanup can be found through a free program, CCleaner, which I downloaded through www.download.com. CCleaner did my disk cleanup, and also has registry cleaner, which I like, but it's not critical. The above should be regular maintenance, as well as running a program to make sure your computer is free of spyware and viruses, which can really slow things down.

Next, go to add/remove programs on your control panel. Be brutal. Do you really use the "Toshiba Games" that came with your laptop? How about those trial programs? All that takes up space, which slows you down.

Now let's see what is running on your computer every time you start it up. Go to "Run" on your start menu and type in "msconfig," then go to the startup tab. Write down everything that is checked to run on startup and Google it, along with the word "startup." I had updated Adobe Reader and now it was running on startup. That was probably my problem. It is a notorious slower-downer. I unchecked it. I also unchecked my Bluetooth link (I can manually link up my devices when necessary), and something for network switching, since that is something I don't do. If in doubt, leave it, but it's amazing how little you might actually need. I found that I had a bunch of Norton anti-virus stuff running, and since that program had expired, I couldn't use it anyway!

Now, restart your computer. You've saved about $150, learned a ton, and now that your computer is so much faster, you'll be able to save so much more money in a day ...

A former state deputy attorney general and current stay-at-home mom, Recession Mama Michele Ashamalla has three kids and ten years of experience stretching one salary to cover the necessities and more. She's all about saving money whenever you can, so you have it to spend on whatever you want!