Democrat Alex Sink reinforced her business acumen and title as the paper-clip-saving queen Tuesday as she announced the creation of "CFO Depot."

It's a continuation of Sink's effort last year to find ways to reduce costs by actually counting paper clips. Her staff spent untold hours determining the Department of Financial Services has 537 pounds of paper clips, 37,601 binder clips and 17,425 pens.

In all seriousness, though, Sink's office said her various initiatives
to cut the number of cell phones, use of office paper and office supplies will save about $1.4 million a year.

Sink, who is running for governor, wants to put a moratorium on purchasing more office supplies through July. So her staff developed a Craigslist-styled internal Web site where employees can swap office supplies when they need them. ("Just don't take my stapler.") Her office is calling on all state agencies to take similar steps, which she estimates could save $14 million a year. Dominic M. Calabro, the president of Florida TaxWatch, called this a "bold and aggressive" move.

Her aides also used the new Transparency Florida Web site to find the state spent nearly $47 million on office supplies in the last fiscal year. Apparently the "easy button" is very fun to press.