It is time to stop theorizing (or, at least, pause) and to start providing some practical tips on how to join the frugalista revolution. Here goes....

Prepare food from raw materials, including bread. Bread makers are inexpensive, easy and pay for themselves quickly.

Put in a vegetable garden, even if it is only container gardening. Friends speak well of "square foot gardening"

Plant two fruit trees if you have a yard. Here’s a link to planting apple trees. Here's a link to growing apples trees. Apple is most versatile for eating, baking, canning and sauces. Consider raspberry canes, a strawberry patch, current bushes, etc.

Grow an indoor herb garden in a window sill.

Can, dehydrate, freeze or otherwise preserve what you grow or what you buy cheaply in bulk when it is in season. In summer, you can dry fruit in the sun. For example, slice up apricots, tomatoes, pineapple, apples and place them in a sunny spot with a wire mess with cheese cloth over top to keep out insects. I use a dehydrater myself.

If you do not need something immediately, then wait and buy it second hand or on a deep discount.

Check to see if there is a freecycle network in your city. It will be an invaluable source of free goods. If there isn't one, consider starting one as a Yahoo group.

Keep your car running as long as possible. The price of insuring a new car is absurdly high. Personally...my car is old enough to have its own driver's license.

Consider babysitting, pet sitting or house watching.

Try to trade or barter for services. Many areas have barter networks; google your area/city and the word "barter." If you need to pay for a service, offer cash and don’t expect a receipt.

Make your own bath products e.g. shampoo for cents on the $ of what a brand name would cost. Go online for instructions or buy a book -- I use "Cheaper and Better".

Generally speaking, however, use the library instead of buying books and movies.

Turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater.

Use your oven to make more than one thing at a time; for example, when you cook a roast, also bake potatoes and make muffins.

Substitute less expensive cuts and ingredients in casseroles, stews, etc. For example, use chicken thighs instead of breasts. I've never been able to taste the difference once everything is mixed and simmered.

Save bones in one container (e.g. a former margarine tub) and keep vegetable peelings and scraps in another. Keep both in the freezer. Make soup stock by just putting these together in a pot with water; heat and walk away for a few hours.

Use coupons.

Unplug most devices when you are not using them; turn lights off when you leave a room. Unless they bother you, use compact florecents in place of regular lightbulbs.

Wash in cold water and use the short cycle unless the clothing is really dirty. Use a drying rack instead of a clothes dryer. In warm weather, use a clothes line.

Use a wood stove as well as electricity (instead of, if possible) and get throw away scraps from a local lumber; check the offcut bin. Our local lumber yard does not charge for what they'd throw away.

Learn to sew. It may well be less expensive to buy good used clothing than to make it yourself but you need to know how to make simple repairs.

Declutter your house/life and sell your discards at a garage sale.

Have a “no spend” month in which you buy nothing but essentials like food and gas...just to see how you fare and how you feel.

Three sites that you might find interesting to browse: Path to Freedom, Living on a Dime, and the Simple Living Network.