Money saving tips during the recession

Instead of spending money at restaurants I pulled out my cookbooks and starting making my own gourmet meals. Another affordable idea is instead of having a lavish birthday party for my grandson at some expensive place I purchased a repackaged pool ($15.00), two packs of ground beef, hotdogs, and a grill ($20.00). I made the birthday cake myself ( I printed out a spiderman centerpiece), I made potato salad with potatoes I already had and made some rice with ground turkey. We brought some of his toys from the inside outside, set up the pool, he has a alligator hut that he plays with inside and we set it up outside and let’s just say the kids had a ball and we were still able to have a few extra dollars left over. As oppose to spending over $200.00 at Chuckey Cheese, we spent about $100.00 and still had fun. Please share what you are doing to save money during these difficult times.