Editor 's note : Clark Howard , the Atlanta , Georgia-based host of a nationally syndicated radio show , is host of a television show designed to help viewers save more , spend less and avoid getting ripped off during these tough economic times . The show airs at noon and 4 p.m . ET Saturdays and Sundays on HLN . Clark Howard says it 's smart to cut back and save , but sometimes being cheap does n't pay . ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Over the last several years , we as Americans became `` negative net savers '' -- a fancy term used by pointy-headed economists to say that we spent more money than we made . In fact , our savings rate was at negative 2.7 percent as recently as four years ago . Now , however , the trend seems to be reversing . We actually saved five percent out of every dollar of disposable income in January , according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis ( BEA ) . Wow , a whole nickel out of every dollar . Thomas Jefferson would be proud ! Sure , it 's not the `` dime on a dollar '' rule of thumb for savings that I rave about , but it 's a start . Watch Clark talk with an amazing saver » . The truly noteworthy thing here is how we 're saving this much-heralded five percent . Where exactly are we cutting back to satisfy our newfound hunger for pinching nickels ? The BEA 's numbers show that vehicles and fuel expenses account for nearly two-thirds of the savings . That category alone has seen a $ 115.2 billion decline compared with January 2008 numbers . Americans are riding their vehicles until the wheels fall off . The second largest category where we 've cut back on is eating out , which is down $ 55.7 billion from last January . After that , we 're also trimming the budget on clothing , jewelry , alcohol and more . In most recessions , the sales of alcohol do very well as people try to drown their worries in a bottle . I 'm not so sure that behavior itself has changed , but this time around , people are trading down in their drink of choice . For example , fancy wine drinkers may be switching to Trader Joe 's lines of Charles Shaw wines ( a.k.a . Two Buck Chuck , for their $ 1.99- $ 3.49 per bottle price ) . Beer drinkers , meanwhile , are skipping expensive and exotic microbrews in favor of cheaper choices . Of course , there are other ways to save a nickel without having to trade down or go without . Many people are simply becoming `` do-it-yourselfers . '' This trend has also been called insourcing -- when you do something yourself instead of paying someone else to do it . Some marketers have seized on insourcing to great effect . For example , Target recently ran an ad campaign that aimed to reinvent the store 's image for these new , leaner times . Consider this : The ailing retailer has always positioned itself as an affordable splurge over the years . But suddenly , any kind of splurge is seen as irrelevant in today 's economy and Target 's sales are suffering . So their recent ad campaign was all about the `` new . '' A circular I saw showed the `` new '' room service ( store brand orange juice and cereal served at home ) ; the `` new '' personal trainer ( using home exercise equipment instead of paying for a gym membership ) ; and the `` new '' restaurant ( eating at home ) -- all things that can be pricey , but are now being repositioned on the cheap in an effort to boost sales . Insourcing is making direct inroads into the home too -- quite literally . The Wall Street Journal 's Weekend Journal recently reported on `` closet boutiques '' where women are now opening up their homes and closets to strangers in order to sell unwanted designer clothes . Closet boutiques are typically advertised on Craigslist . There were 715,000 postings in February -- more than double the amount last year at that time . For buyers , a closet boutique offers the opportunity to pick up designer threads at a tiny fraction of their new cost . But a word of caution for sellers : You 'll almost certainly have some questionable characters coming into your home . Store away all your valuables , and make sure you have enough eyeballs on hand to ensure that people do n't wander around your home with sticky fingers . In other DIY ( do-it-yourself ) moments , The Washington Post recently reported that sales of sewing kits at Wal-Mart are up 30 percent in just the last few months . People are mending their own clothes instead of paying a tailor or seamstress to do the same . And let 's not even mention all the botched dye jobs that hairdressers are having to work with from women ( and some men ) who tried to take matters into their own hands . Sometimes , it does n't pay to be cheap !
Americans are saving ten cents out of every dollar . Vehicles and fuel expenses account for nearly two - thirds of the savings . More people trying ` ` do - it - yourself '' things like dying , and Mr . Clark says , sometimes it does n't pay to be cheap .