Saving is fashionable. Frugality is the new little black dress. The U.S. personal savings rate is around 6%, the healthiest it’s been in more than a decade. If you’re sitting on the sidelines and still giving in to frivolity, know that little changes add up big time.

Keep cash where you want it: in your pocket, in your bank account, somewhere that benefits you.

Ask yourself a few questions.  If you want your dollar to go further, think through the following - “Could you, for a short period of time, find a way to spend less on that expense? Could you do that activity less often? Could you do that activity at a less expensive location? Could you find a way to gain the same benefit but spend less money?” suggests Stacy Francis, president of Francis Financial.

Be smart with technology. Think about the cost of sending data on your smartphone vs. email. Do you need to push a large file through a phone network, or will your smaller laptop/netbook save money instead?

 ”In renewing my mobile phone service and phone itself, I chose the best phone replacement (a Blackberry Storm), insisted on maintaining the same budget level of wireless service cost per month and did not pay for the phone at all. There is always a way to negotiate the price you want and can afford,” says small business owner Patricia Smith.

She reviewed her entire communications package, not only her mobile phone, but landline/fax/ISP and cable. Bundling may get some people a better deal, but she was able to negotiate some separate items down to the lowest price possible. “I was able to negotiate past just a 6-month subscription into 12 months at less than $25 a month,” says Smith, who ended up saving more than $700 a year. It may be worth doing without your home phone, relying on your cell instead.

Avoid fees and surcharges. Between using your credit card abroad, late payment, balance transfer, redemption, over-the-limit, cash advance, monthly and extended balance fees, you get pinged painfully. Consumers pay some $30 billion in fees and surcharges on their credit cards, says Barbara MacLeod, chair of the economics department at Ohio Wesleyan University. Pay your bills on time, and if you can, pay in full to avoid interest charges. Better yet, spend with cash. You’ll be less likely to throw in that extra item in your cart and spend 15 percent less, says Ethan Ewing, president of Bills.com.

Don’t take their word for it. Review bills for accuracy. One small mistake that recurs monthly will add up. “I deciphered my water bill and found a confusing line item charge. It turns out it was an error - for several years - and we received a $1,500 credit from the water department,” says Ewing.

Cut some extras. You’ve heard it before, but here it is again because you still probably haven’t changed. Eat out lees. Take your lunch to work and find yourself $36,000 richer in 20 years. Skip daily jaunts to Starbucks. You’ll save about $112 a month, or about $1,300 a year. Do that for the next 10-20 years. You get the picture: more money, more money, more money. And when you do go out, share a meal, or go for an appetizer and soup. Resist the urge to splurge.

Do you have two cars? Can you get by with one? What about public transportation or car pooling? (this by the way is also good for the environment). “A car is a big drain - insurance, gas, repairs, tires, in addition to the payment. This is one of the fastest paths to savings if you can make it work,” says Mackey McNeil, a CPA and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants National CPA Financial Literacy Commission.

It’s gotten pretty scary going to the supermarket. You can run up $100-$200 and not have as much as you would like to show for it. Look at the food in your pantry and freezer, sometimes see if you can skip the supermarket for a week, by cooking what you already have. Do that twice a month and save $200-$400.

In sum, if you separate wants from needs, think less is more, reuse, reduce, and resist, you’ll be among those saying cha-ching.