The Gap may have many loyal followers stocking up on its basic tees, but its balance sheet hasn't been seeing much black — until lately. The company reported a 51 percent increase in profit last quarter, even though sales were down, by cutting costs and managing inventory. Good for the Gap, but what do the global company's finances have to do with you and me? Find out when you read more.

The Gap is surely pleased with its increased profit — cut expenses and you'll have money left over, too. Cost cutting is the number-one way to save more money. When there's a set amount of money coming in, the only way to save more is to reduce expenses. Whether we need to nix big expenses like a car or small ones like too much weeknight delivery, depends on our individual financial situations.

Tightly controlling inventory is a must to avoid wasting assets — something the Gap learned the hard way — and managing personal inventory will save you from spending money unnecessarily. How often have you gone grocery shopping, only to find that you already had an item in your refrigerator that you just repurchased? What about going clothes shopping, only to find that you have something almost identical in your closet? Make the time to take inventory of what you own before heading out to the store.

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