Gardening is one of the most obvious ways to save money on your food bill. Even without more than a windowsill you can start to tinker and save a little bit of money. Many herbs can be grown inside. If you have a patio you can collect up some buckets, snag some soil from a friend's garden and plant a few seeds.

One of the great things about gardening is how truly frugal it is. One pack of seeds will cost you about $2 and can produce hundreds of dollars worth of food. Many plants also take very little work to grow so, while time is a factor you'll still come out hugely ahead.

For experienced gardeners there are a few things that you can do to increase your return. The average gardener can probably do without organic seeds. They are from organic plants but even non-organic plants can produce seeds that can be grown in an organic way. Any residue on the seeds should have absolutely no consequences on your harvest.

If you buy open-pollinated seeds you can learn to collect your own seeds for use the next year. Open-pollinated seeds have been produced by plants that are pollinated by the same type of cultivar as the mother plant so that the subsequent generations of the plant will match both parent plants. Hybridized seeds are produced by controlled pollination from a different cultivar to produce certain traits in the child. Unfortunately, with hybridized seeds the following generation will be a mix of traits from the two grand-parent plants.

With some plants it's painfully obvious how to collect the seeds, like with tomatoes or squash. Others take just a little bit of knowledge, such as beets and parsley. Your library, or the internet should provide ample information on how to collect seeds.

Seed catalogues and plant stores will also try to sell you all sorts of tools and gimmicks. Tools are helpful but be wise and avoid being suckered into expensive purchases of tools with minimal value.