Confessions of extreme penny pinchers

When I'm on the go or short on time, fast food dollar menus kill a lot of birds with one stone -- they're quick and convenient and can actually be relatively healthy.

I'll special order it and exclude the fatty add-ons. I like that the portion is smaller and not a big 'ol gut-bomb meal.

Some of my favorites are Sonic Jr.'s breakfast burrito (sans sausage), Wendy's baked potato with chili, or a Whopper Jr. (sans cheese and mayo).

I'm self-employed so I'm always out and about driving around. Usually when you do things on impulse and don't plan you make bad choices -- so I could end up spending $8 to $10 on any given meal. But with these dollar menus, you know exactly what you're getting -- and it costs a dollar.

I could skip a week, or maybe do it a couple times a week. Over the course of a year, I probably save more than $300.

NEXT: I became `quasi-Amish'