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Personal-finance expert Gary Foreman will tell you this about fast food: it's not cheap. "When you start hearing, 'That's $15 and please pull to the front window,' you know something is wrong," said Foreman, editor of The Dollar Stretcher, which offers savings tips at www.stretcher.com.

Foreman says his family saves $400 a year by skipping weekly trips to fast-food joints and grilling at home instead.

"It's better in terms of quality of life anyway because I get to hang out in the kitchen and talk with my teenagers," he says.

Relatively small changes--in tandem with bigger-picture steps that often are neither painful or costly--can shave $5,000 or more a year from a family spending on monthly bills and expenses, Foreman and other personal-finance experts say.

"We waste so much money, so there's a lot you can do to stop small leaks," said Bill Staton, co-author with his wife, Mary, of "Worry-Free Family Finances." "But Ben Franklin said it's small leaks that will sink a financial ship."

Home sweet home

A home is typically a family's biggest expenditure. And home-related mortgage interest "is the biggest money waster by far," said Norm Bour, host of "The Real Estate and Finance Hour," a nationally syndicated radio show.

Bour cites two strategies for mortgage-related savings: making the equivalent of one extra monthly payment each year or switching to a bi-monthly payment schedule.

Voluntarily overpaying the mortgage reduces more quickly the loan principal, in turn slashing interest payments and the time needed to pay off the loan.

Switching to a bi-monthly payment schedule can shorten a standard 30-year loan to 23 years, even when homeowners make no extra payments, said Staton. The Statons pay a fee of about $7.50 a month to a firm that works with their lender to process their payments every 15 days, they said.

As with monthly overpayments, bi-monthly payments cut into principal at an accelerated rate. As a result, interest is calculated according to a smaller amount. Bill and Mary Staton figure they save about $2,500 a year on interest on their $300,000 mortgage.

"So that gets you half way to $5,000 in (annual) savings right off the bat," Mary Staton said.

Bill Staton said the practice has been around for years but that many consumers don't know about it. Although not all lenders offer it, Staton says homeowners should ask their bank or mortgage company about it as a first step.

Staton adds another note about the strategy: The automatic withdrawal from his checking account every 15 days means he doesn't need to summon the will power to stick with the money-saving strategy.

"You only have to make the decision once, rather than wrestle with it each time," he says.

Driving down costs

Automobile-related spending likewise tops many experts' lists of where to start your search for savings. Some advocate driving a less expensive car or keeping your automobile for longer than you might otherwise before springing for a new one.

But even if you keep your current wheels, you can still save hundreds of dollars each year by making sure your car is running at maximum fuel efficiency. That means taking steps such as making sure tires are inflated properly and the air filter is clean and avoiding energy-wasting practices such as excessive braking and accelerating.

Consumers also may derive big savings with changes to their insurance policies, particularly the policy that covers their home. Homeowners should view insurance as a protection against disaster, not as a way to cover small headaches, says Foreman.

Because deductibles pay a major part in insurance costs, consumers should consider raising it to lower monthly payments, he said.

If you can handle a $500 deductible, "you should probably up it," says Foreman.

Bundling car and home insurance with a single provider is another way to save.

Making sure your home is energy efficient and keeping it neither too cool not too warm can also slash monthly bills, especially given the current elevated price of natural gas.

Grill it yourself

Few areas offer as many opportunities for saving--or splurging--as food-related spending, Foreman says.

The reason is obvious: "Most of us probably make a dozen or more purchasing decisions related to food each week, whether it's at the grocery store or at the vending machine," he says.

Many of the steps Foreman and others recommend are both easy and time-saving. They include keeping a price book to record the cost at different stores of staples that regularly appear on grocery lists so shoppers recognize a true bargain; doubling or tripling the recipe when making home-cooked meals and freezing the extra for another day when eating out might be tempting; and eating at home whenever possible.

Dining out is hugely expensive compared to eating in. Remember, Foreman's own burger experiment netted $400 in annual savings by changing the family's eating habit just one day a week.

The Statons likewise see lot of opportunities for plugging "small leaks" through savvier food-buying practices. Saving $5,000 a year means reducing spending by about $14 a day, says Mary Staton. Bringing lunch and snacks from home to the office can quickly get you close to that amount, she says.

"Just a couple of sodas a day can come to $3," she said.

Consumer who keep their $3-a-day soda money and make no other change will reap savings of more than $1,000 over the course of a year.

Communication breakdown

There are numerous ways to reduce spending related to telephone and television.

Consumers who want a cell phone only for true emergencies don't need to sign up with a wireless provider; a charged battery in a working phone will allow you to reach 911 in the event of a true emergency, according to the Telecommunications Research & Action Center.

Of course, that's not an option for consumers who routinely use their cell phones for business and pleasure. But service providers are eager for your business and offer a string of incentives and competing deals. New number portability likewise is expected to ratchet up the competition between service firms.

Dropping cable- or satellite-television service likewise can produce hundreds of dollars in yearly savings, although many consumers likely would find unappealing the idea of trading lots of channels for a $3 set up with rabbit ears atop their sets.

Still more leaks

Impulse spending and fees provide more opportunities for savings. Experts say consumers should not be shy about asking their credit-card company to lower their fee and possibly eliminate any annual fee.

Those who don't get the answer they want should explore switching to another card, experts say.

Consumers also need to be aware of other fees, including those charged at ATM machines. Don Chance, a professor of risk management at LSU, says consumers need to look closely at the fees they are paying to mutual-fund companies.

"Most people look only at what the fund earned ... (but) the fees can eat right into your money," Chance said.

Consumers also need to consider the fees for steps such as home refinancing. The length of time you plan to stay in your home and the current interest rate will determine whether a re-fi makes sense for you.

What you do with your savings is up to you, of course. But Chance offers this food for thought: Wealth is dependent on how much you save and invest, not how much you make.

"A lot of people with big incomes are not wealthy because they spend it all," he says.

RELATED ARTICLE: Buy the house quicker, and for less.

Bimonthly mortgage payments can shave years and thousands of dollars in interest from a traditional mortgage. That's because paying half the mortgage every 15 days cuts more quickly into the loan principal.

For example, by making two monthly payments of $500 on a $1,000 a month mortgage homeowners typically can pay off a 30-year note in 23 years using the bimonthly system.

Free mortgage calculators on the Internet (including a good one at www.mortgage-x.com/calculators/bimonthly.htm) can give you an idea of how much you may save.

Using a bill-paying service to handle payments might not save you anything if your lender doesn't process payments more than once a month, consumer advocates warn.

For that reason, promises of savings should be reviewed carefully.--Sara Bongiorni

SARA BONGIORNI covers economic development, banking and personal finance. Reach her at sbongiomi@businessreport.com.