Economic Hard Times Survival Guide

Today's economy has put the financial pinch to most of us which makes it very difficult to pay the bills and buy the necessities of life. There's the problem of not enough money to pay all the bills which forces us to default on some bills just to make sure there's a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. And once you are in default on your bills, there is no way to pay them back and this ruins your credit score. When you have a low credit score, you have a hard time renting someplace to live or even get a job. It's a vicious cycle that can cause so much stress on you and your family that you live in a constant state of unhappiness and despair.

I have several ideas for living as cheaply as possible and making certain that you have a roof over you and your children's heads and food in all your stomachs. These seven tips are things that my family currently does in order to survive in today's economic hard times. I admit that they aren't all pleasant and fun ideas but they do ensure that my family can live a decent life and even have some fun.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #1: Share Your Home.

I admit that this tip is not going to be popular and it certainly is not always fun because it means that you are sharing your living space with other people. I personally live with five other people; two other adults and three children plus three animals. It can be difficult living with others but it can be done. By living with roommates or relatives and sharing expenses, you are able to keep a roof over your head.

Renting a house or an apartment is very expensive especially if you want to avoid living in any of the bad areas which all towns seem to have. There are credit checks to pay for that you must pass and then deposits to pay on the house and sometimes even on the utilities. If you have bad credit, this can be a nightmare because if you don't pass the credit check, they are not going to rent to you. This has been my experience. By moving in with my adult daughter and her family, I was able to move into a house and have my own bedroom. The rest of the house is common area that we all share. This can work for you too.

Perhaps you can live with relatives or advertise for a roommate. Just make sure to be completely upfront about how much you will each pay and the date it must be paid by each month. It is a good idea to buy your own food separately instead of sharing the cost of groceries.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #2: Evaluate Your Current Bills

Write down the bills that you pay each month. Then look over each individual bill and see what you can cut back on or cut out completely. Can you get rid of any of the services on your phone bill? For example, do you need caller ID? Call your phone company and ask them to help you trim the cost of your bill.

How about cable television? Do you need to have all the premium channels? Can you get by with just basic cable? Call your cable company and ask them to help you trim the cost of your cable bill. If money is extremely tight, you might even need to cancel cable completely.

Do you need to have internet access? Can you cancel your internet provider or get a package deal on internet, cable, and phone? Can you get rid of your landline and just have your cell phone? Do some shopping around to find the best deal and what will work the best for you. I know that the telephone company has a low monthly rate for qualifying low income families.

The utility company such as gas and electric may have programs that can help you with your bill each month. I do know that low income households and households with special medical needs can get a percentage off their utility bill each month. There are also programs to help pay the utility bill which you can find out about from your utility company. Our utility company has a program that spreads your bill out throughout the year so that you always know how much your bill will be each month. You pay a set amount each month and that way you are not hit with a huge utility bill from heating during an extra cold winter or air conditioning during an extremely hot summer. You would need to call your utility company and ask them about any help or programs they know of to help you with your bill.

Telephone, cable, internet and utilities are just examples of current expenses that can be evaluated and most likely lowered. Each of you will have other different bills to evaluate as well.

Another thing you will need to do is put your bills in order of need. If you do not have enough money to pay all your bills during a month, prioritize them. What bills absolutely MUST be paid each month? Obviously you must have a place to live and utilities and food so those will be the first bills you will always need to pay.

In these difficult economic hard times, credit cards are a luxury that it is better to do without unless you have iron control of your spending and are able to avoid using your credit cards recklessly.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #3: Apply for Food Stamps

I know this tip may sound awful but if you have children, this is especially important. As adults, we may be able to survive on eggs, peanut butter and ramen noodles but kids are growing and they absolutely must have proper nutrition to do so. This tip is definitely one to consider if your income is low and it is hard to buy food each month because you have to pay rent so you'll have a place to live.

You apply for food stamps at the Department of Human Resources which you can find in your phone book under local government listings. You will need to take birth certificates and social security cards for each member of the family plus bank statements, work pay stubs, rental agreements etc. They will give you a list of what information they will need from you. Sometimes you can even get a phone interview so you don't need to go into their office. Call them to find out what your local office requires.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #4: Apply for Medical Care

We all need to have proper medical care to remain healthy. This is especially important if you have children. The children need medical care but so do you because you are the one taking care of the children. If you have an emergency, you can go to an emergency room and they will usually see you even if you do not have insurance but it means you will have a huge medical bill that you probably can't afford to pay hanging over your head.

If you go apply for food stamps, you can apply for medical care at the same time or they can direct you to the proper place where you can apply. I know that our local county hospital handles MIA or medically indigent adults who have no medical insurance and would otherwise have no medical care. The listing for this program will also be found under your local government listings in the phone book.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #5: Check Your Grocery Store Sale Papers Each Week

Grocery stores have some excellent sales each week. Check your local grocery store sales papers to find the best deals. One thing to keep in mind is that it is not a good deal unless it is something you and your family will happily eat.

Another thing to keep in mind, running from grocery store to grocery store is not cost effective. Check the sales papers of the stores that are located within a few miles of each other and hit them all on the same day to save gas and time.

If you have a freezer, you can buy meats, for example, in large quantities and keep it frozen until you are ready to use it. It's always a good idea to date each item you place in your freezer.

If you get your local Sunday newspaper, you can usually find coupons that will help to save you even more on your grocery bill, especially when combined with weekly sales.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #6: Find Free Samples Along with Other Ways to Make Money and Stretch Your Dollar on the Internet

You can scour the internet and find quite a few free samples that will help to stretch your budget. It is a good idea to use one of the free email addresses you can sign up for (for example yahoo or AOL) since you will be getting a lot of spam email once you sign up for free samples. Generally, if you do not give a legitimate email address, you will not receive the free samples. One website that offers quite a few free samples regularly is Walmart.com.

There are numerous freebies websites all over the Internet that tell you about free samples you can get. You'll need to do a search online to find them.

Another way to stretch your dollar using the Internet is by signing up for websites such as MyPoints.com or eBates where you earn a certain number of points per dollar each time you make a purchase from a participating online store. Once you earn a certain number of points, you can exchange those points for a gift card reward. For example at MyPoints.com, I have used my points for gift cards from Wal-mart and Borders Bookstore.

There are also internet searches you can use online that will earn you points such as Swagbucks.com which you can use for prizes of merchandise, gift cards and even cash to your PayPal account.

There are companies that will pay you to do surveys which you can find online. I am not personally familiar with any survey companies but you can do a search for them. I would recommend that you read reviews on the company to make certain that they are reputable and will indeed pay you for your time. Some of these companies will have a certain pay-out amount that you must reach before they will send you a check. Usually a pay-out amount is $25.00 though some companies may have a higher (or even lower) amount needed before you will receive payment.

If you like to write reviews of the products you use, you can post your reviews to different websites and earn page views. For example, Epinions, Associated Content, Helium are just a few sites that will pay you for online page views from people reading your reviews and other online content posted to their website. Sometimes these websites will run contests or promotions where you enter your reviews for a chance to win prizes, plus there are always those page views each month. Generally there is a minimum pay-out before you will receive your payment.

Each of the ways to earn money that I have listed here generally pay small amounts of money. In today's difficult economic times however, small amounts of money do add up by the end of the month. One of the reasons that I personally use these methods of earning money online is because of health problems that prohibit me from working at a regular job outside of the home. My daughter also uses these methods to earn money because she has a child on the autistic spectrum that no babysitter can handle for extended periods of time so she must do what work she can from home.

Economic Hard Times Survival Guide, Tip #7: Don't Buy What You Don't Need and Shop at Thrift Stores and Discount Stores

This tip sounds easy but it really isn't. People tend to buy more than they need all the time. Unfortunately this needs to stop because your leaking finances will turn into a raging waterfall of waste. Stop before you buy something unless it is an absolute necessity. Current fashions and the latest Playstation 3 game are not necessary to life.

You can find decent clothing at thrift stores and consignment shops for a fraction of what they cost new. You can shop eBay.com for almost anything you can think of and a lot of things you would never think of! Don't forget to join MyPoints before you shop at eBay so you can earn points for your purchases. Dollar Stores sell many of the necessities such as shampoo and toilet paper, so check them out to save money.

The tips in this article are just a few of the things that my family and I do to survive in these economic hard times. We aren't getting rich and in fact we scrape by each month. Once in a while we even have to ask relatives for financial help though we try to avoid doing this as much as possible. We have a roof over our heads, air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter and plenty of food for all of us and sometimes we even get to do fun things like go to the movies or occasionally go out to eat. We've even gone to Disneyland and a trip to the beach. These are things we must plan for though and work extra hard to earn money for online. Another way we earn money to have fun is by recycling cans and clear plastic. So there are definitely ways to survive these economic hard times, you just need to step back and look at your finances clearly and be willing to make cuts in your budget and work a little harder to earn a few dollars legally.