Spending money and saving money seem to be on opposite sides of the game, but you've got to eat, and still cover some essentials, and so, provided you've got SOME spending money, you may find that spending a little more on a  few things ends up saving you a lot in the long run -- because you avoid feeling deprived.  It's the same principle that can help you stick to a diet -- or an exercise program.

So here are seven cheap pleasures or otherwise redeeming things you can pick from as your "cheap treats."

1) Fresh flowers (some stores sell single stems for a buck or so)

Just buy one and put it in a pretty vase.  Replace when it starts looking too droopy.  Fresh flowers feel luxurious even if you've got just one.

2) Apples and oranges and bananas etc.

Fresh fruit, especially when in season, can be surprisingly cheap.  Keep an eye out for specials and you can treat yourself with even less of a sacrifice.  And it's so good for you too.

3) Chocolate chips

Very tasty treats, in small doses, and unless you have a serious chocolate problem, they'll last for a long time -- for pennies per treat.

4) Cool socks

They're fun, make you smile when you put them on, and they feel like an indulgence, yet if you consider that you may end up wearing them for a year or more, you get your treat for just pennies per unit of enjoyment, i.e., for each time you wear them.

5) Books

Whether you get them from the library or from Amazon.com Marketplace, or even Craigslist or the local used books store, books give hours of enjoyment for a very reasonable price.  Heck, even new they're a bargain if you buy one you really like and that you end up rereading more than once.  They also make great gifts once you're done with them (not the library books, naturally). Also in this category: A favorite magazine for hours of enjoyment and sometimes great tips as well.

6) iTunes

At 99 cents for a favorite song that you may end up listening to over and over again, iTunes is a steal.

7) iPods

Okay, not so cheap, BUT if you can wing it -- and maybe get a used one on eBay, you'll have a way to play back hours and hours of free teleseminars and other free programs for may hours of enjoyment --and education. Maybe even education on how to make more money! My iPod has become my indispensable, portable learning lab.