http://www.activistpost.com/2010/08/ten ... cient.html
Excerpt: More @ link
1. Reduce your debt: Especially get your credit card debt under control. Call your credit card companies and ask for a work out plan similar to what they received from the taxpayer bailout. LOL (!?!)

2. Reduce your consumption: Evaluate your current budget and determine absolute necessity. Find areas where you can scale back.

3. Reduce energy use: Have entertainment systems plugged into a splitter that can be shut off completely to reduce phantom charges, etc. Carefully plan shopping trips and other transportation needs.

4. Store energy: Have back-up propane storage/a large wood pile/alternative energy plans for a rainy day. Investing in a generator of some kind (even a solar generator) will be money well spent.

5. Invest in food storage: Create a food savings bank. Get some good books, dehydrators and vacuum sealers for storage methods. Best storable food items are grains (rice, beans, flour), canned goods, seeds, and some prepackaged items.

6. Produce your own food: Garden, fruit trees, and keep chickens. Go on hunting and gathering adventures for nuts, fish, and wild game. Store extra garden seeds!

7. Learn new skills: Surf the Internet, read books, and take courses in practical skills like gardening, cooking with whole foods, composting, carpentry, alternative energy, natural health and wellness etc.

8. Start a side business: Turn your passion or hobby into a small side business to make some supplemental income. Who knows, it may become your path to full financial independence.

9. Install alternative energy: Start with small installations like a solar hot water system, a solar freezer, a solar attic fan, or a wood stove etc. If you have limited funds, tip-toe your way to independence.

10. Suggest solutions for your community: Start or join a local cooperative for food, products, and services. Engage your local community in discussions to take steps for self-sufficiency. Share your story and build support.

These steps will save money as we move closer to the ultimate prize of independence. Each action we take to live more simply frees us from the control systems put in place to make our lives more complicated, more toxic, and less independent.

Great list! thanks war tide.