"Free" cooking oil

If you buy tuna or fish steaks in oil, drain it into a container and use it in stir fry or to fry potatoes or saute other foods. No sense in wasting it; it's good oil for cooking although it might have a slightly fishy taste, so be judicious where you use it.

Free meat for omelets or pizza

Save all the little bits of leftover sausage, bacon, or ham - even the tiniest - and keep it in the freezer. It doesn't matter if it's not all the same type (or even flavor) when you use it on a pizza or in an omelet. You can mix it into cornbread, too, and serve with beans or dried pea soup, but that's not as frugal as using it in the main course.

Squash blossoms

If you have a garden, you're probably sick of summer squash by now. Eat the blossoms instead. Pick them either at their peak or a little spent. Simply saute them in a little butter, or get fancy and stuff them with cheese and bake. They're very good and they're free. (If you've been supplied with zucchini by a neighboring gardener, ask for the blossoms!)

All the apple

Peeling an apple? Save the peels. You can make jelly of them and the cores - no pectin needed. Save them in a plastic bag for a few days until you have enough. It won't matter if they brown a little, but you can sprinkle them with vinegar or lemon juice to stop that. When you're ready, cover them with water and boil until they're soft, adding a tiny pinch of salt. Strain the liquid or press through a jelly bag. Return to a boil and add 1 cup of sugar for each pound (approximately) of peelings and cores you started with. Cook until it sheets off a cold metal spoon, then pour into a jar or bowl and cool. That's it. You might want to skim off the foam. Put that on a cold plate and it will subside into jelly, too. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Cooking fat

If you eat bacon, you might as well save the bacon grease to use in other things. Try it instead of butter on popcorn, or put it in green beans or use it to grease the pan for cornbread. It's free and you eat it anyway when you eat the bacon.

Save on dish detergent

It happens to everyone who cooks: You need just that bowl or pan to make something in and it's dirty! Instead of using a squirt of dish soap to wash just one or two things, keep a squirt bottle or soap dispenser on your counter filled with half dish detergent and half water. It just takes a tiny bit to wash one item and using it straight from the detergent bottle almost guarantees overuse.