by Jennifer Hinders

Created on: January 24, 2009   Last Updated: September 18, 2010

The recent financial crisis has affected numerous families across the United States. Our family has felt the crunch of the slumping economy, too. We are attempting to implement a life style to help correct this situation. Here are few things that have helped us to eleviate the pressure of the tight economy on our household. 

Workable budget

Creating a workable budget for your household is extemely important. A budget helps determind how your money is being spent each month. We trimmed our budget by reducing some extra expenditures each month. Our children are aware of our desire to economize and have joined the effort whole heartedly.

Less meals out

We decided to save money by reducing the number of times our family eats out per month. This has given us almost an extra one hundred dollars per month for savings or other needed expenses. A popular website for saving ideas is Dollar Stretcher http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm . This site incorporates many creative ideas for living in the midst of the currect financial crisis.

Save energy

We lowered our thermostate from seventy degrees to sixty-eight degrees to conserve energy and reduce our heating bill. The children learned to wear sweaters and sweat shirts around the house this winter. We purchased and installed two large ceiling fans in the kitchen and diningroom for better venilation and to reduce the use of the air conditioner this summer. We hope to reduce our heating bill and electric bill by at least one third because of these simple energy saving choices. Check out the article called Easy Ways to Save Energy at this website. http://www.parents.com/family-life/home

Sell a car

Our family decided to sell one of our five cars to reduce insurance costs. We chose to keep our newer cars even though we have car payments on them. We sold the oldest car to offset the future car repairs on this high milage car. Our teenage sons pay for their own car insurance while my husband and I pay for their gas. We have reliable transportation and share the other four cars as a family.

Economical vacations

This year our family vacation will be a week at the beach. We will rent a beach house during the off season; usually before early June and after mid- September. By renting at that time of the year, we will save approximately half the price of a beach house during peak season. Our older children who attend college will have to drive down later in the week to join the family. Check out this website for some economical family vacation ideas. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/six-cheap-family-vaca tions.html

Families across the United States are coming face to face with the recent financial crisis. Our family has felt the pinch of the economy and is seeking simple, but creative ways to reduce our monthly budget, save on energy and reduce our cost of living.

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