Caught your attention, huh? Okay, there IS a catch. I admit it. You can't do anything illegal. You have to report all your income. You can't work under the table. You're following all the rules. So how are you making money that the IRS can't touch AND staying out of jail?

You're going to use frugality to make your current income do more than seems possible! For example, if you make $35,000 per year, by using frugality you can make it do the work of $45,000. You've just "made" $10,000 that you don't have to report to the IRS!

Keep in mind, that being frugal doesn't mean giving up everything. It can simply be a matter of learning how to do your own manicures and saving $100 per month for an increase in your income of $1200/year! Instead of going out once a week, you could go out twice a month instead and save another $100/month. That's another $1200 each year. You and a best friend can learn how to do perms or highlights on each other and save even more!

I regularly stretch our income with clothes shopping at thrift stores (my boys can wear out and outgrow thrift store finds as quickly as more pricey finds at the "regular" stores). Last year, I found a high-quality, brand name rain coat for $20 at a thrift store. I was thrilled to discover that I would have paid over $120 at the regular store for this coat.

If thrift store shopping isn't your cup of tea then learn to shop for things you need and want during end-of-season sales. Having been blessed with three boys, I can also shop ahead for sizes I'll need down the road, trusting that sooner or later, one of the fellas will fit into something I've purchased from last season at a great price! I've stretched our clothing dollars tremendously this way.

You can stretch basic household needs like laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, shampoo and other similar things but using half of everything. You will probably find that half does the job but even if you add a bit more, you're still ahead of what the manufacturer recommends. Remember, the manufacturer WANTS you to buy more of their goods, so it benefits them to tell you to use more than what you really need.

There are always "things" we want, not necessarily need. We wanted to buy kayaks to enjoy with the boys. The kind we settled on were over $650 each when new. We weren't going to spend that kind of money on kayaks! We started searching on Craig's List and in a matter of two months, we found two of the kayaks we wanted, gently used and within a reasonable distance. We had to be patient about finding them but our patience paid off because both kayaks cost us only $550. That's a savings of over $750 (we have sales tax as well in our state). We've enjoyed similar savings on items like a chainsaw, wood chipper and light duty equipment. Whenever possible, be practical and find gently used items instead of new. It can super stretch your income!

The food budget can be one of the biggest places to stretch your income. I average $400 per month for food (two adults and three growing boys, we eat meat and we eat well). I've learned to shop just the front page loss leaders to fill our pantry, combine coupons with loss leader items, bake all of our bread and cookies and in general bake just about everything from scratch. I've also been gardening and learned how to can last summer so I can buy even less. I was shocked to learn that a package of chocolate chip cookies cost over $2.99 now! You get maybe two dozen cookies in there? I can make eight dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies for the same $3! Not only are they bigger, they taste a lot better and contain no trans-fats and other ingredients I can't identify. I know you might not have all the skills needed to immediately drop your food budget to $400/month, but learning just one new baking or cooking skill each month will save you hundreds or thousands every year!

The biggest motivating factor in learning any money-saving skill can be the fact that you can stretch a dollar to do the work of two. You have already been taxed on the first dollar so the "earned" dollar comes to you tax free. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "A penny saved, is a penny earned." Did Ben have to pay income tax?