Pinching pennies is a hobby for some and necessity for others. You don’t have to do it on your own. There are plenty of useful tools on the Web.

These tools can help you both save and make money. You also can find help for planning and budgeting. These are some of my favorite tools:

eBay Desktop – eBay is a great place to sell your used stuff. You can find good deals there, too. eBay’s Web site is fine. But there is an easier way to get there. This program lets you access auctions from your desktop.

Skype – You may not think about the phone when cutting costs. But maybe you should. You can make calls from PC to PC. And you can do it for free. Skype lets you make calls to any computer in the world. Plus, you can do video chat. 

Mint.com – You can’t budget if you don’t know where your money is going. This site can put all your finances in one place. There, you can better monitor your saving and spending. There are also tools for paying off debt and planning.

Office Accounting Express – Small business owners have to watch their budgets, too. But business need differ from those of individuals. Accounting is crucial. That software doesn’t have to be expensive.  This program handles invoicing, payroll, profit and loss reporting, and more.