Some people (my husband included) might think that I like clutter, but keeping things that I may not need is a surefire way of saving money when I do need them later.

Michele Ashamalla: My husband is reffing our son's soccer games on Saturdays. At 6 PM on Friday night, he told me he needed a stopwatch and whistle for his duties in the morning. This was actually a fair amount of notice -- I've gotten same-day requests for Sunday School class snacks and an appropriate gift on Administrative Professionals' Day. He was ready to go to Target, but I remembered that a couple of years ago, I had received a stopwatch from Weekly Reader as a free gift for placing an order. Come to think of it, I had also gotten a metal whistle from S & S Worldwide, an Oriental Trading-type company, for placing an order with them. After checking a couple of places, I located both in one of my desk drawers. I remembered that when I got them, I had no use for them at the time and thought about giving them away. They didn't take up much room, though, and since I thought they were essentially useful items, I decided to keep them.

The key, of course, is actually being able to find the items you save. I know it's the antithesis of the organizing experts' credo of "purge, purge," but I kind of feel that until my children are older, I never really know what I'll need. Yes, I could just buy it when I do need it, but it would kill me to know that I once HAD the item I was now buying. One of the first arguments I had with my husband after we were married happened because he threw away all the packing peanuts that came with our wedding gifts, and then, three months later, I had to buy a big bag so I could ship something. (This was back when we would have to take our horse and buggy to the post office to mail something.)

In any case, I handed the stopwatch and whistle to my husband and he mentioned that we could use a sports strap for my youngest, who just started wearing glasses. I reminded him that we had one -- and I had given it to him to use in a race. He responded, "That was a YEAR ago! I'm sure I got rid of that ..."

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!