How do you save money if everything you make is just enough for what you need!

Marci - posted on 01/20/2009

You sound like us a couple years ago.  We, my husband and I sat down with what he made each month and all the receipt for about three months.  We made a chart, love my charts!  and showed where everything was going.  We then looked at the chart and saw that some areas we were spending a lot more than we originally thought, and I do mean a lot.  We sat down and then made a realistic budget cutting back on things that weren't absolutely neccessary.  We even went a year without cable to get some of the credit card and mediacal bills more under control.  Make sure while you are making out your budget that you have a little bit set aside for fun or you will be frustrated and eepressed and run out and blow a ton!

I highly recommend Dave Ramsey.  You can borrow his books from the library, we did this first but they were so good we eventually bought them.  He talks about getting out of debt and saving money.  His whole push is for you to live debt free!  I LOVE him!  He also talks about how to get started and setting up an emergency fund. 

My husband and I alos decided to go with a debt consolidation comapny to consolidate all the credit cards.  We have heard that you can do this yourself, Dave Ramsey even talks about this a little.  But this was bfore we knew Dave Ramsey, and it takes a bit of time.  If you are interested I can give you the name and number of the company we aent through, they were really easy to work with and nice customer service. 

We have less than $5000 in debt, besides my husbands car left!  We came down from over $20,000 in just a few years!  (We had a lot of medical bills, credit cards, and other debts piled up)  We are even looking into buying a home this year, we wish that we were able to pay cash for it but we aren't in a position to be able to that yet.  We will pay it off ASAP! 

Things are looking up and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Some days I thought it would never happen but we are so close now.  If we can do it, so can you!!!  If you ever need to talk or want support or ideas or anything I am here.  You can email me and I can give you a call, we are finally able to afford unlimited long distance!!!  After years of using those prepaid phone cards, all my family is in Pennsylvania and I am in California!

We, my husband and I, decided to homeschool our girls and so we have to be creative in how to make our money last through the month.  So, I am still at home with the kids.  Here is a list of things that I do to make a little extra mony from home.

l'd start by checking out the companies and products that sound interesting to you.  To be able to sell a product like we do in direct sales, you have to have a passion for the product.  Okay, you don't have, but it helps a lot.  I have tried many different direct sales companies and was never able to find one that clicked until I found Usborne books.  I LOVE the books so much that I would share them even if I didn't get paid!  (check out my website at )  Feel free to email me about any questions or concerns  that you have.  You have to believe in the rpoduct enough that your enthusiasm will help you talk to people about and sell the product.  Does this make sense?

I also sell things on EBay and Half.com, Ebay's sister site.  I use to have an Ebay store front but have closed it because I was just breaking even.  I will continue to list individual items on Ebay but the store did not work for me.  There are some that do very well with an Ebay store.  I like Half.com as it is similar yet different to Ebay.  With half.com you only sell books, movies, music, and video games.  You list the items and what price you want for them and they stay up until they are sold.  Half.com takes their cut when the item sells but there is no listing fee, this is a big bonus for me as I currently have about 1,000 items listed!  If you have any questions on how to get started feel free to email me at

I also do some secret shopping to bring in a little extra pocket change.  I have not gotten rich doing this but it is fun!  For our anniversary my husband and I were able to go to an upscale restaurant and we will pay only $15 out of pocket when we get reimbursed and paid for the report I filled out.  There are many different comapnies and shops available.  Never pay to become a mystery shopper--those are scams!  You can be a mystery shopper with no experience and no money down.  That's what I did! (Depending on the company you get paid at different times, some pay bimonthly, some once a month, some it has to be the month after you complete the shop read the instructions and information carefully!)  we have been able to do many things together as a family as well as a couple that have been completely or mostly paid for!  Best of all you pick and choose when you wan to do it and how much and which shops you will pick!  Email me if you want more info on this. 

My husband and I also have a couple of blogs that we are trying to make some money off of, so far we have made around $200, not a lot but a little.  If anyone has any tips or ideas to share about this I would love to hear them!!!  Again email me at and I will share with you what we do.  You can see our blogs at: 

This one is our family blog--we don't try and make money on this one.  This is just for fun!!!

These next two haven't been updated in a long time, my goal is to update them this week and keep updating weekly all this year!

My husband has a couple more that are just his.  If you are interested I can send you those addresses, just email me at

We, my husband and I are also taking a online class about setting up your own websites and making them profittable.  These websites are not ready to go live yet, hopefully by the end of Febrauray they will be live!  If you want info on what company we used just shoot me an email at I really like the company, they are really easy to use, even for me, I am pretty computer illiterate, everything I know I have learned in the last year or so.  They go over step by step how to do it and even go over how to have your site make the most money as possible.  Their whole goal is to help you set up a website from start to finish and have it make you money!  And they really make it easy and give you the confidence you need to try it!

I also write a weekly column for BellaOnline, on Childrens TV.  While the editor position is volunteer, there are many ways that BellaOnline helps you get your name out there and helps you find ways to make money.  After February my goal is to really sit down and go over the best ways to make money with them and optomize on that.  There are always Editor positions open, so feel free to check it out.  Here is my page:   This will tell you more in depth what we do and how we do it and will give you a list of topics that they are looking for editors for.

I also make a lot of crafts and such and have decided to open an Etsy store.  I don't have any items listed yet, hopefully I will be able to gather them together and get store started by the end of January.  I will be listed under BusyBeesDesigns if you want to go and check it out at the end of the month!

So, as you can see there are so many ideas out there!  You can do so many things if you really want to.  If you are still having a hrad time deciding go to your local library and check out a couple books on home based businesses and find some ideas that you think sound exciting and interetsing and research those. 

You will be your own boss, no one to report to.  This makes some people excited and ready to go and it makes others lazy.  You have to do something that you feel good about and that will keep you doing it!

Good luck to you.  Let us know what you decide on so we can all help support you!

Dawn - posted on 01/20/2009

i know it's tough!! there are agencies that help out with things like food and heat. not sure about in your state but you can check. we get WIC here...( women, infants, children) if you have a child under the age of 5 or are pregnant then you may qualify. it is based on your income but here at least it's a pretty high amount. it's a supplement program that gives you milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, peanut butter, fruits and veggies and juice. and if you have a baby under the age of one you get formula, cereal and juice..and new this year they are starting to give you baby food too. it's worth looking into since the items they help with are expensive. also social sevices offers assistance with food and heat. but those incom guide lines are pretty low. we dont qualify for any of that but we do get WIC. as far as saving money on food goes if you can't get these things i suggest getting the paper on sunday and checking the fliers for sales and shopping according to what's on sale.also clip coupons but wait to use them until the item is on sale. and don't waste your money on things you wouldn't normally buy. my local store always has buy one get one free sales and i wait to stock up on things when they go on sale. cut back on meat as this is expensive. what i do is once a month i buy 2 big packs of meat...ground beef and either chicken or pork. i split it up in freezer bags and use that for a few meals a week. the rest of the time i make pasta or rice and a veggie. beans are much cheaper and have just as much protien as meat. i save money on clothes buy shoping at consignment shops and yard sales. you can still find brand name clothes and no one will know unless you tell them. hope this helps:)