• Slashing the budget yields significant savings.One Dollar - variations of Crumpled dollar image by PaulPaladin from Fotolia.com
  
  When celebrities go bankrupt, many people fail to understand how these wealthy people experience money problems. In actuality, the problems develop because of the need to maintain a certain lifestyle. Though celebrities have the most fat to trim, almost everyone can find ways to get a budget under control. Cutting out little things like weekly trips to the mall and the coffee shops help, but slashing the biggest expenses will generate the biggest savings.
  
  

Downgrade your Amenities

• Assess your cable television package, cell phone plan and magazine subscriptions. These amenities can cost hundreds of dollars per month. Question how many extra fee channels you actually watch. Check how many phone minutes you use per month. Put into perspective, every wasted minute or unwatched channel is money drained from your bank account every month. Examine alternatives to cable and cell phone subscriptions. Instead of subscribing to a magazine, log online and spend a few hours every month reading free material from its web site.
  
  

Unplug Appliances

• Aside from basic energy saving acts like turning off the lights every time you leave the house and choosing baths instead of showers, look at unused appliances as a source of savings, too. Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner, authors of the book, "You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!)" explain that unused, plugged-in appliances cost the average American household $40 a year. Though this amount might not seem significant, unplugging appliances is one of the least time-consuming activities you can do to save money.
  
  

Assess your Transportation

• Instead of using two vehicles per couple, try finding ways to carpool to work and coordinating schedules to use just one car. If you already own just one car, fueleconomy.gov recommends the following tips: reduce excess weight from your car, use cruise control and watch how often you accelerate and decelerate out of aggression. Following these tips saves at least 17 cents a gallon.
  
  Also look into public transportation. Though monthly bus cards might seem expensive, choosing this up-front cost can be safer and less costly than gas plus wear-and-tear on your car. If you know you cannot afford car repairs, opt for the bus, subway or lightrail. Taking public transportation enables you to spend travel time reading or other beneficial acts.
  
  

Downsize your Home

• Selling your home might not be an option, but opening up your home to a roommate or two can generate significant funds per month. If you rent, move somewhere cheaper to save a few hundred dollars per month. You might have to forgo certain amenities like a tennis court down the road, but you might discover a great falafel stand in your new neighborhood.
  
  

Sell Unused Items

• John D. Freyer, author of "All My Life for Sale", took money saving to the extreme when he sold all his possessions on eBay, including things like half-used mouthwash and his sideburns. Though you might be uncomfortable selling everything you own, you likely have a number of items you never use (like that treadmill, your old bridesmaid dress, juicer, etc). Give these to charity for a tax write off, sell clothes to a consignment shop or auction items online.