Like thousands of Americans, Dina Gachman got laid off in 2010. She had been working as a development assistant for a film production company in Los Angeles and when the economy hit a slump, her position was eliminated. “I started writing. I needed to fill my days,” she says.

That writing, originally for a blog, turned into her new book, “Brokenomics: 50 Ways to Live the Dream on a Dime,” which was published last week. In the book, she shares her creative and sometimes quirky approaches to scaling back her budget. Now gainfully employed as a staff writer for an industry publication, she still uses some of her thrifty habits to manage her money.

In addition to picking up temporary jobs like baby-sitting, Gachman convinced her landlord to lower her rent for two months (she later paid back the money out of her deposit), stopped eating out at restaurants and sold many of her possessions at garage sales. “I wasn’t living like a pauper, but I curbed my spending,” she says. At one point, she even fixed part of her car, the center console that kept slipping, with Velcro. “It looked terrible, but it worked,” she says.

She’s not the only money expert with some surprising tricks for living the luxe life on a budget. Here are some other savvy suggestions:

1. Pick one day a week to save. When clients tell her they have a hard time putting money away each month, financial planner Dominique Broadway suggests they pick one day a week to save a small amount of cash, like $25. “Set a random day, like Thursday, to save $25. You would have spent it on happy hour anyway,” she says. Even that modest amount adds up to $100 a month and around $1,200 a year, she adds.

2. Design a flexible travel schedule. If you can wait to fly to your destination until fares drop, then you can probably get killer deals, Broadway says. She recently scored a $39 flight to Las Vegas because she didn’t have to be there on a specific day.

3. Limit your happy hour lingering. Happy hours can be great for restaurant deals, but Broadway warns that if you show up at 4 p.m. and stay until 7 p.m., then you’ll probably end up spending a lot of money. Instead, she suggests taking advantage of the deals for just one hour, between 6 and 7 p.m., so you have a built-in time limit.

4. Spread out your salon visits. Broadway gets her hair cut every three months instead of every six weeks. “In between, I do it myself,” she says. She also picks nail salons based on available deals so she doesn’t have to shell out $40 every time she wants a gel manicure.

5. Zero in on recurring expenses. Maybe you’re paying for extra cable or phone services that you’re not using, and you can cut those services out of your budget. Stefanie O’Connell, U.S. News Frugal Shopper contributor and blogger at thebrokeandbeautifullife.com, also suggests negotiating. Scoring lower monthly rates can be as simple as making a phone call to your service provider and asking.

6. Take on DIY projects. If you have a broken piece of furniture or a bike that needs a new tire, put some energy into making repairs. That can prevent you from making a new purchase, O’Connell says. She also suggests using simple recipes to make cleaning supplies and painting your own nails. Visiting Pinterest can provide ideas if you’re looking at a specific challenge, like hosting a party on the cheap.

7. Rent out your place. If you’re planning on getting out of town, consider renting out your home by listing it on Airbnb or another online service. It can help offset the cost of your trip and perhaps even contribute to your savings funds, O’Connell says.

8. Counteract indulgences. Gachman says there’s no need to sit at home while your friends are having fun at happy hour, but you have to balance out that spending with saving on other days. “Maybe don’t get lunches, make food at home and do little things to save up for it. We always save up for long-term things, but you can think of it as a short-term savings plan,” she says.

9. Host a garage sale. Gachman and her friends love hosting garage sales so they can make money on items, such as clothes or books, that they no longer need. She says she might make $100 from an afternoon sale. “You just throw stuff on your lawn or your stoop and people will buy random things,” she says. “We put on music and it’s a fun way to make money.”

10. Don’t forget to haggle. Gachman suggests always asking for companies to reverse late fees and other one-time charges if you happened to be late just once on your bill. “Don’t be afraid to ask for things,” she says. She does acknowledge, however, that sometimes she takes this technique too far, like when she wanted to negotiate prices with the rabbi officiating her upcoming wedding. “My fiancé was like, ‘No,'” she says. Still, when it comes to asking for a price cut from big corporations sending you monthly bills, Gachman says, “There’s no shame in that.”

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How to Live Richly When You’re Feeling Broke originally appeared on usnews.com