A non-frugal friend recently confessed that she was ready to start looking into "this frugal stuff," as she called it.

She said she'd be a tough client, because, for example, when just one of her dozen mugs cracked, she tossed them all and purchased a new set. When asked why she couldn't just drink from the other 11, she responded with, "What are you talking about?"

So, indeed, she'll be a tough potential convert to frugal living. Do you know someone like this, too? Are you like this yourself? If so, here's an easy three-point plan to start down the frugal path.

App it. There are smart-phone applications that allow you to track every penny you spend, every day. They categorize your spending and then spit out a daily, weekly and monthly total. This can be enlightening, if you follow it to the letter -- meaning, you need to jot down even that $2.50 latte. If you do, you might be shocked at where you're spending your money. If you don't have a smart phone, a cheap and small notebook that you can carry in your pocket will work just fine.

Use the $10 rule. Before you can buy anything that is more than $10, stop and ask yourself two questions: (1) Can I live without this? (2) Is it at all possible that I can wait a week to get this? If the answer to either question is "Yes," then do not purchase it and walk away. It's annoying. But eventually you'll start realizing that dollars and cents have more worth than you've granted them in the past.

Bucket it. At the end of every day, sit down and fill out your money app or notebook and think back to how many times you were about to spend more than $10. Then figure out how much you were going to spend and take that amount out of your wallet, via hard cash or a check written out to yourself and drop it in a bucket. Close the lid of the bucket and walk away.

Do these three simple steps for one month, and this is what will happen:

1 You'll be much more aware of how much things cost, where you're spending a surprising amount of money and where you can find cheaper alternatives.

2 You'll understand the value of time; it's really not a big deal to wait a month for something you think you want or need now. There's a reason why delayed gratification is so popular.

3 When you open that bucket and count the checks and cash, you'll be blown away. Take half of it and put it into a savings account, and take the other half and blow it. You deserve it, and we're taking baby steps here.

Next month, the whole thing goes to savings. Deal?