Efforts to be thrifty

In my efforts to be thrifty, I've been trying to read some good thrift-inspiring books. In addition to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace, I picked up America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On the Money. Its basic message is similar to Dave's and it has some good ideas for saving money day-to-day on kids' stuff. I got some ideas for re-doing the kids' allowance system. We've tried a bunch of different things, some of which worked for awhile. George and I didn't have ourselves financially fit, though, so every attempt failed eventually.
We've tried:
A sticker chart - kids receive a sticker on their chart for every chore done; at the end of the two weeks we would count up their stickers and they would be paid on a per sticker basis
A coin jar - they each got their own jars and received a coin for each chore; each coin was worth a different amount depending on the age of the child
A picture jar - I cut out, colored, and laminated little pictures of different chores (big waste of my time!!!!) and taped a nickel, dime, or quarter to the back of each, depending on the difficulty of the chore
A magnet board - I colored and cut out chore pictures on magnet stock and we stuck them on the fridge; again, paid on a per-magnet basis
A chore door-hanger - this was the most effective - I made a door-hanger on the computer for each kid to hang on their door; the front had their "morning chores" on it (things like making their beds) and the back had "evening chores" on it (things like picking up toys and getting school clothes ready for the next day); we paid them if they completed all the chores listed each day

Whew! And I always wonder where all my time goes!
We're going to try something a little different this time. It's a sort of "time card" system in which the kids will get paid bonuses for chores they do above and beyond their typical responsibilities. Who doesn't like to get a bonus for working a little harder?