Trying to cut your spending in these tough economic times? (Who isn't?) Savings expert Clark Howard shares simple changes you can make around the house to save hundreds - even thousands - of dollars a year:

Put your computer to sleep
Common sense tells us that we should turn off the lights and television when they're not being used, but the one thing most people forget about is the computer, which Clark refers to as Dracula: "It sucks the blood out of your wallet!" For $30, you can buy a surge protector that dramatically reduces how much energy you use and will make your computer last a lot longer because it puts it to sleep when you're not using it. "Let a machine take care of a machine," Clark says. "If you make things easy, it’s easy to save money."

Change your light bulbs
By replacing all the bulbs in your house with compact fluorescent bulbs, your yearly energy savings could be over $1,000. "One bulb is like $75 back in your pocket!" Clark says.

Ditch those plastic water bottles
Many families have an expensive drinking problem - bottled water, that is! Switching to filtered water pitchers instead of bottles, you could save up to $1,400 a year - not to mention the savings you will also generate for the environment.

Rethink your grocery habits
One area where Clark sees lots of waste is in the food habits of families. "First, by eating out too much," he says, "and second by how they shop for groceries to eat at home. So if there is nothing else that they do, if they attack the food budget, it can make a difference in thousands of dollars a year per family."

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