Penny Pinching Your Way to Prosperity

There is a Chinese proverb that says: "Diligence is the basis of wealth, and thrift the source of riches."

I was born to be thrifty. It's in my genetic code. I can't pass a penny without picking it up. I find it amusing that some people are so superstitious that they think it's bad luck to pick up a penny if it's showing tails.

Me, I pick it up if it's heads, tails or spinning into traffic (well, if the light is red). I rather like this little ditty: "Find a penny, pick it up; all day long you'll have good luck." It doesn't say anything about heads or tails.

I'm an ambassador for the penny pinchers of this world because I know that watching every penny is the surest path to prosperity.

That's why I started the Penny Pincher of the Year contest. To enter, all you have to do is nominate someone with an original penny-pinching strategy -- a friend, a relative, co-worker, even yourself.

I also hold this contest in honor of my grandmother, Big Mama. She was my role model for frugality.

I watched Big Mama pinch pennies all the time she was raising me. She once had to count out pennies to pay her telephone bill. She had to that month because my grandfather, who was a sweet and quiet man, had a problem with alcohol. That meant he sometimes didn't bring his entire paycheck home.

Big Mama paid that telephone bill in full and on time with the pennies she had been saving.

The rules of this contest are simple. Don't make anything up. (I can usually tell.) Don't be gross. (I don't want to hear that you bathe in someone else's bath water. That's just nasty.)

I'm looking for cheapskates, not cheats. For example, taking enough packets of condiments from a restaurant or a fast-food establishment to fill a jar isn't penny pinching, it is stealing.

I'm interested in creative entries. I've heard before about mashing soap together to save the last tiny sliver or turning two-ply toilet paper into one-ply.

I want to profile penny pinchers, not misers. There is a difference between being miserly and being frugal. A miser is stingy.