Michelle McKay likens herself to a hunter, but what she stalks, tracks and brings home are free or nearly free home furnishings and appliances. Washing machine, NordicTrack, antique armoire: free, free, free.

McKay throws her arms open wide in the middle of her Phoenix home and says: "This stuff is my horns on the wall."

McKay is a deal huntress, having traded, bartered or swooped up for free or at deep discounts about 90 percent of her home's contents. Her kitchen shelves are so stocked with items snatched up during killer sales or at bargain stores that the room resembles a soup kitchen.

"It's limitless," says McKay, 39. "You could almost put retailers out of business for what you could get for free."

Gas prices remain high, mortgage-foreclosure rates are at record levels and food prices are rising faster than they have in 17 years. Consumers are feeling the pinch and are trying to make cuts, even if it's just to save a dollar here and there.

Frugal living is a way of life McKay has honed while going through divorce, job loss and other financial ups and downs. But she says that people need not make major lifestyle changes to save $100 on monthly expenses.

McKay joins the Phoenix area's other king and queen of frugal, Steve and Annette Economides to weigh in on a three-step plan to cut monthly expenses — and possibly save thousands yearly — without clipping coupons.

Here's the program:

BE A PLANNER

Everyone is time-starved, but the frugal-minded say that if consumers start with a little planning, in the end they will actually gain time.

"I am the busiest woman on the face of the Earth," McKay says. She works full-time as an administrative assistant for a trust company, is a licensed hairstylist, an Avon saleswoman, wife, and mother of a 6-year-old. "It's about taking time to make time."

THINK FREE, USED OR DISCOUNTED

Whatever you buy new likely can be found cheaper (new or used) online or at a discount store. And you don't have to settle. "You can have everything you want — you just have to know where to look," Annette Economides says.

CONSIDER BARTERING AND TRADING

McKay is disappointed that bartering is a lost art, but she spreads the joy of it person by person. For example, McKay will get a compliment on the crocheted hair bands she makes for her daughter. People will inquire about price, and McKay offers to trade: " 'What can you do?' I ask them. 'Bake a killer casserole? Baby-sit? Run some errands?' "

THE PAYOFF

The trade-off for being frugal for the Economideses is that they live a debt-free life. For McKay, it's being able to move into a home in February after living in a cramped apartment.

"Some people may look at me and think I'm a nut," she says. "But I think there is no reason I should not enjoy my life, and my daughter should not enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. You don't have to lower your standards or deprive them of anything if you just start thinking outside the box."