Economic downturns aren’t ever especially fun, but as Adam Smith observed centuries ago, these cycles of paucity and plenty are a fact of life. Though none of us can say for sure when this most recent slump will reverse, there are at least sure ways of stretching your cash in the meantime. Here are some penny-preserving ideas tailored to our 21st-century lives:

1. Plenty of people are in the habit of cutting out paper coupons, but even though many of us do some of our shopping on the Web now, not as many of us seem to have learned to coupon-hunt on the Internet. Sites such as CouponCabin.com, CouponMountain.com, and DealofDay.com offer thousands of current offers at retailers all over the Net.

2. Use price-comparison sites like Pricegrabber.com, Shopping.com, mySimon.com, and Google Product Search to find the best online deals.

3. When you’re out at a store, send a text message to 46645 (Google’s number) and enter the letter “f” and then the name of the item you’re looking at. Google will reply with a text quoting the online prices. To compare prices at stores near you, check out ShopLocal.com.

4. If you don’t already belong to one, consider joining a warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s Club and buying things in bulk. This can be especially helpful if you have a sizable family.

5. Buy generic instead of brand-name products. A lot of the difference is often in the marketing ballyhoo and not the products, anyway.

6. Withdraw your money from surcharge-free ATMs, which can be located on AllpointNetwork.com and MoneyPass.com.

7. Buy locally-sourced food at farmer’s markets or stores that sell local produce and meat. Prices are often lower there because the food doesn’t have to be transported very far.

8. Shop at dollar stores. You shouldn’t have a difficult time finding one since they’ve been turning up all over the place recently.

9. Purchase discount prescription drugs from online pharmacies. You’ll often end up paying under half as much for the generic medicines carried by these discount prescription drug stores than you would for the same brand-name medications at brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

10. If your car is seven or more years old and/or worth less than $2,500, consider dropping comprehensive and collision from your insurance.  Your deductible may be approaching the worth of your car anyway, in which case a major collision would send your car to the junk dealer and you to the dealership.

11. Keep cell-phone costs under control. Kids today love to send text messages, so save yourself from unexpectedly high bills by paying the flat monthly fee for unlimited texting.

12. Use online classifieds to buy used items. Sites like CraigsList.org and Kijiji.com are excellent resources for finding everything you need, from pre-owned furniture to baby gear. By buying from locals, you can save on shipping costs too.

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