Q. With the country in a recession, your 401(k) losing money and companies laying off workers left and right, you know it would be a good idea to cut back on your spending while you’re at work. What are some ways to do this?

問：全國經濟不景氣，養老金帳戶里的錢在流失，周圍的公司都在裁員，我很清楚的認識到現在有必要在上班時繼續省錢了。有什么辦法做到呢？

（譯注：401(K)是指美國的401K計劃，也稱為401K條款，是指美國1978年《國內稅收法》第401條K項的規定。它是一種由企業和員工共同出資建立養老金賬戶的一項特殊的養老金制度，適用于私人盈利性公司。）

A. Start with the money you spend on food and drink. Avoid impulsive spending on food and other items by leaving credit cards at home and bringing only cash with you to work. Decide what you can spend while at work during the week and put that amount into an envelope, said Dayana Yochim, a personal finance expert with the Motley Fool, the financial advice Web site.

答：從在飲食上省錢開始做起。把信用卡留在家里，只帶現金上班，避免在這方面沖動消費。理財咨詢網站Motley Fool的個人理財專家Dayana Yochim建議，可以計劃好一周的正常開銷，把這筆錢裝進一個信封里。

“This brings a mindfulness to spending — it’s not $5 here, $5 there,” she said.

“這樣可以促使你謹慎消費，不會這兒花五塊，那兒花五塊。”

Bringing lunch to work, even two or three times a week, cuts down on food costs, said Susan M. Cooper, a certified financial planner and manager of the New York metro branch office of AXA Advisors. A survey conducted in October by ConAgra Foods showed that workers spent an average of $6.60 a day buying lunch.

AXA Advisors紐約辦公室的注冊理財規劃師、經理Susan M. Cooper建議大家至少每周兩到三次自帶便當上班。ConAgra食品公司十月份調查研究上班族平均每天午餐花費為6.60美元。

Try bringing breakfast foods to work, too, like dry cereal and milk or instant oatmeal, and you won’t be tempted to buy an expensive pastry or muffin on the way into the office, she said.

她同時建議也可以帶些干谷物、牛奶和即食燕麥作為早餐，以避免在路上沖動買下昂貴的糕點。

Consider starting a snack pool, by asking co-workers if they want to donate a snack like granola bars or crackers to share with the group, said Beth Pinsker Gladstone, editor of WalletPop.com, a personal finance advice site.

個人理財網站WalletPop.com的編輯Beth Pinsker Gladstone則建議員工之間共享零食。

And try eliminating both your morning and afternoon latte. Bring in a French press — which you can get for under $20 — and make your own rich cup of coffee whenever you want, Ms. Cooper suggested.

Ms. Cooper建議大家減免早上和中午的咖啡消費，花上不到20美元買一個法式壓濾壺，就隨時都能為自己沖調一杯咖啡了。

“If you skip the twice-daily coffee you can save $30 a week,” she said. “That’s $120 a month and about $1,500 a year.”

“如果你省掉每天兩次的咖啡錢，一周就能省下30美元，一個月就能省120美元，一年就能省下1500美元。”

Q. What about your gym membership, which is pricey but enables you to work out at lunch or in the early morning, often the only free time you have? If you give that up, when will you exercise?

問：那些昂貴的健身卡也要省掉嗎？只有那樣我才能在午餐時間或者早上去健身了，那可是我僅有的空閑時間。連那都要省嗎？

A. For some people, a gym membership is a vital long-term investment in their health. But if you feel you need to save money by forgoing it, try waking up earlier and going for a walk or a run before you leave for work, or squeezing in a walk at lunch. If you want more intensity, add wrist or ankle weights and stop to jump rope.

答：對一些人來說健身卡是他們在健康方面的最重要的長期投資。如果你打算省錢，就要放棄去健身館。你可以早起一點，或者在午餐時間出去走走。如果需要更大強度的鍛煉，可以試試腕部、踝部負重走，或者跳跳繩。

This would not be appropriate for every office, but Ms. Pinsker Gladstone says she exercises while she sits at her desk by using an exercise ball instead of a chair. “Sitting on it requires that you don’t slouch, which is great for your back and works your abdominal muscles all day long,” she said.

Ms. Pinsker Gladstone稱她去掉了椅子，上半時坐在一個訓練球上。這個辦法不見得在任何公司都可行。“坐在訓練球上，你就沒辦法駝背了，一整天都可以訓練背部和腹部肌肉。”

Q. How can you dress fashionably at work without spending a fortune on new clothes?

問：每天穿得光鮮亮麗去上班，我怎么有辦法不買新衣服？

A. Shop at second-hand clothing and upscale consignment stores, suggested Rachel C. Weingarten, president of GTK Marketing Group in New York and author of “Career and Corporate Cool.”

答：GTK紐約的Rachel C. Weingarten建議大家去二手服裝店或者性價比比較高的寄售商店買衣服。。

For women, she suggested having “a few key separates: pants, a jacket, a couple of suits and blouses, and dress them up with a variety of accessories like brooches, necklaces and scarves. Look at fashion magazines and find similar items at discount stores.”

對女性消費者，她建議大家衣櫥里要備有幾條褲子、一件夾克、一些套裝和襯衫，然后搭配不同的胸針、項鏈或絲巾穿。可以看看時尚雜志上的物品，然后到打折商店買類似的款式。

Men can invest in a couple of sport coats and use them again and again with different shirts and slacks, preferably all machine — or hand — washable, Ms. Pinsker Gladstone said.

對于男性，可以備好幾件運動外套，搭配不同的襯衫和休閑褲來穿。這些衣服最好都是可以機洗和手洗的那種。

Consider having a clothing swap party, she added, where you can gain clothes while getting rid of things you don’t wear anymore. You can also refurbish suits and shirts by having cuffs repaired, buttons replaced and hemlines adjusted. Extend the life of shoes by repairing the soles.

也可以舉辦個服裝交易會，處理掉你不想再穿的衣服。縫補袖口、釘上扣子、補好邊緣，壞掉的套裝和襯衫就可以繼續穿了。釘鞋掌還能延長鞋子的壽命。