Given the current economic situation, most of us would feel the scorching heat that affects our daily lifestyle. For some of us who are smart enough not to add more debts to our credit cards, gone are the days of going to our favorite hangouts or restaurant as well as bringing the kids to fast food outlets. Instead of viewing these situations as setbacks, we should take it as an opportunity, as a blessing in disguise out of these difficult times. There are a few survival tips which might help us go through the situation and we might come out of it wiser, healthier, having stronger bonds with our family and less debts to shoulder.

1. Never spend on impulse or just to impress others: Most of us like to buy on impulse and there are always hidden dangers of over-swiping and then losing track of our expenses. Show-offs might do wonders to our ego but it would bruise our finance badly in the long run. We should not simply swipe our credit cards just because we want to outdo our neighbors or friends. We should know our own financial strength. Just live within our means. Credit cards should only be used when we have extra cash stash to buy the stuff which we can use to offset the payment later or only purchase items that are of absolute importance to us. Do not be a "slave" to our own ego.

2. Be creative in preparing meals. There are a lot of easy-to-prepare meal recipes that are available over the Internet or we could watch more of the food channel programs and learn. We don't have to go to a restaurant to enjoy"nice-looking" meals. The atmosphere might not be the same but some would go to another distant to create an accommodating surroundings; the key word would be creativity.

3. It goes the same when preparing children's fun meal. Buying a packet of fries or chicken nuggets and other raw ingredients are more economical rather than going to the fast food joint every weekend. Not only will we be able to eat our hearts out on that budget, there might be some extra for some other day's meals.

4. By doing some of the chores ourselves, we wouldn't need an expensive massager chair to keep our blood flowing. Sweating it out at home is the cheapest and less time-consuming exercise for the body. Everything are there; music, mops and brooms and cooking utensils. We exercise and we get the work done. How great is that! After all the hard work, maybe we could just grate or blend one carrot and cucumber and squeeze out or filter the juice. Mix the juice with

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