subject: Saving Money for Your Family [print this page] Saving Money for Your Family Saving Money for Your Family
Many households have felt the effects of the current recession and know the negative impact it has had on the finances of millions of families. Not only have savings dwindled for many families, but jobs have also evaporated, leaving many clamoring to pay their bills on a monthly basis. You're probably already very aware that these issues have caused many to seek out ways to help save money, make money, and make their dollar go as far as possible.. That in mind, here are a few great tips on how to help support your finances during these tough times.
Money Saving Tip One - Getting your house money friendly
To get started we need to take a look at all of the money you dump into living in your house. Have you ever really looked at how much you spend on your house every month? Heating bills, electricity, gas, water, sewer, and so on. It's the first place to make some adjustments. Your first step is pretty easy: do you have a land line and a cell phone? If so, you should look at cutting the landline phone service unless you truly need it. In the day and age of cell phones most people don't, so that's an easy $20+ per month you can be saving. If you don't think you can do that, take a look at low cost service like Skype.
I'm guessing that like most people you have a full-time job on top of other responsibilities, and even though plunking down on the couch at the end of the day and turning on the TV may sound like a good way to unwind, you probably have way too many TV channels. That brings up our next savings tool that can net you between $500 - $1,000 in savings every year: cable TV. Do you really need 250+ channels when you only watch one or two a few times a week? Why not think about getting rid of that cable box and switching to free shows online, or saving up for DVD sets when your favorite shows come out.
Next let's look at changing the type of stuff you have sitting around your house. Whether it's that outfit you haven't worn in two years or the GPS device that you never used, you can make a little money on the side by selling some of your old stuff. This is such a great way to earn a little side money because of the literally hundreds of services that allow you to post a free ad online to users in your area. Your first step will be taking an inventory of your stuff and finding out what you really don't need, don't want, or just plain don't use and taking well lit, direct photographs of the items. Pictures are your best friend when selling anything online. They can show a potential buyer the different between a "perfect condition" anything and a beat up, worthless item, so take your time here. Now that pics are out of the way hop onto your favorite online classifieds service and start posting away! Pricing is important too, don't think you can get the same price you paid for something three years ago, make the price be good enough that people will be interested, but not so low that you're losing money.
If you've really applied yourself to these few tips you should be able to start saving some money, and depending on what things you have around the house you could even stand to make a little bit of cash too!
