Leverage

When you're a true Money Master, you will learn that leverage is a word that you must employ to make the most of your time, energy and money. Leverage is the concept of moving a large mass by using a focus point and a lever. You must learn to leverage not only your own efforts, but you must also learn to leverage other people's time, other people's money, and other people's expertise. No man is an island, and you won't accomplish what you hope to accomplish without other people, like it or not.

How do you use leverage? Think about trading babysitting/daycare services with another family instead of paying for them.  Get together with a group of moms and try cooking once a month instead of coming to the end of the day in a panic because it's dinner time and you have no idea what you're going to make. I did this when my kids were younger.  It was such a relief to know that there were meals in the freezer ready to go.  Even if you don't follow the menu strictly for a month, it's nice to know that you have back ups available for dinner. (I even used a couple of my made-ahead meals for other families who needed a meal dropped by:) Check out the sampler one week sampler. www.once-a-monthcooking.com/includes/MenuSampler.pdf
You can get the "Once a Month Cooking," book by Mary Beth Lagerborn and Mimi Wilson at the Focus on the Family bookstore http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ or on Amazon,com

I like to leverage my coupons. In my area, Rainbow Foods, my local grocery store doubles up to 5 coupons per $25 order (the price before the coupons are applied) on Wed. and Sat.  The largest coupon they will double is $1 ~ but hey, turning $1 into $2 makes me happy:)  When I apply that to some of the sale items, I'm getting some items free:) Now that's leverage!

What are some of your "leveraging" ideas?