Negotiating frivolous spending with your spouse or significant other is particularly important in a tight economy.

Take the example of Christa and her husband Mike. Mike is known as "Name Brand Man" on the show for his love of overpriced products -- particularly pricey shaving accessories. Mike feels comfortable spending $140 on a razor handle. That's a far cry from Clark's efforts to make a single 17-cent razor last for a year!

One of Mike's recent purchases was a bottle of NXT shaving gel that has a light-emitting diode packaged directly in the clear plastic bottle. Christa was about ready to call 911 when she first saw the glowing light coming from her shower late one night. She thought there was an intruder with a flashlight in her bathroom!

Name Brand Man paid around $5 for a 7-ounce bottle of NXT. Not too bad, says Clark. But that's still 9 times more than the penny pincher paid for a larger bottle of budget shaving cream at the dollar store.

With every couple, you have to choose your battles. Christa knows she probably can't change Mike's spending habits. Each person has to decide what to let slide and what needs to be negotiated.

One word of advice about negotiating spending in a relationship: Always open the conversation by volunteering what you spend on that can given up before pointing fingers at your significant other's spending.

And if you live alone, you've got to look in the mirror and have the conversation with yourself.