This time of year brings out the traveler in us all. After being cooped up for the winter, it’s nice to get out with the family and explore. This year, many families are facing the struggle of trying to plan family vacations for summer on a budget. Even with the recent economic stimulus checks, most people have tight budgets due to rising food and gas prices. If you’re feeling the pinch, there are many things that you can do with your family this summer without having to take out a second mortgage.

1. Visit a National Park - If you’re lucky enough to live within driving distance of one of the nation’s 58 National Parks, it can be a great way to explore the great outdoors with your family. Pack a picnic lunch and head out early before it gets too hot. Most parks have a small entrance fee but it is normally charged per car and not per person.

2. Local Museums - How long has it been since you visited the local art or history museum? Although the kids might complain at first, this can be a wonderful and relatively inexpensive family outing. Check with your local museum for their list of special exhibits. You may be able to see something new each month.

3. Train Trips - If gas prices have got you down, consider taking the train to a nearby destination. Train travel is not only economical but is a great experience for the kids. Call Amtrak or look up their schedule of trains online. If you travel to an area where there is a lot of public transit, like San Francisco for example, you won’t even have to worry about renting a car. Taking a few day trips by train over the summer will allow you to vacation without spending too much.

4. Vacation at Home - For some families, traveling anywhere at all just isn’t in the budget. In this case, making vacation special at home can be the solution. Pick a new theme each weekend, like Water Play or Movie Weekend and plan at home activities around the house. Ban housework for an entire day and just enjoy spending time together. Do something out of the ordinary, like picnicing on the living room floor or sleeping outside under the stars to make staying at home fun. (more…)

You’ve probably heard a lot of good advice over the years on how to pay off your debts, including the tip that you should pay more than the minimum payment due each month. However, this may not always be easy when you are on a tight budget. Even if you want to pay more than the minimum balance, you may not be able to afford it.

Fortunately, there are several ways that you can pay more on your credit cards by using “hidden” sources of money. The sources are hidden in plain sight, and once you re- purpose them to be used to pay off your debt, you’ll find yourself better off financially in the long run.

One of the best ways to reduce your debt is to use your tax return each year in debt repayment. If you typically get a large tax return payment each year, it means that you are giving the government a no-interest loan! Use that money wisely to reduce your personal debt, and consider increasing your exemptions on your paycheck if you can. The more exemptions you can claim, the more of your paycheck you get to keep. You’ll get a smaller tax return back in the coming year, but you’ll get more of your money each month that you can use to pay off your debts further.

If you have a savings account built up and a large amount of debt, you should sacrifice your savings in order to be debt free. Although you may take a lot of pride in building up your savings, it doesn’t make sense to hold on to it while you are paying 18% interest on your credit cards. Most savings accounts only pay 4%, so you’re better off using that money to pay off your debt.

You can pay off debts painlessly by squirreling away any bonuses, overtime or raises that you get at your job. Use the difference between your old paycheck and your new paycheck to make extra payments on your accounts. Since you didn’t have this money before, you won’t miss it at all. (more…)

It’s common knowledge that food prices are rising all over the country. If you’ve felt the hit on your wallet as you leave the grocery store, you’ll be happy to know that there are some easy ways that you can reduce your spending and still get the food items that you need. Although it’s not possible to turn back the clock and pay the same amount for food that we did years ago, it is very simple to get more for your money.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear “save money on groceries” is probably coupons. Coupons from stores and manufacturers are a great way to save money if you know how to use them right. The key in saving money with coupons is to use them on the things you’d be purchasing anyway. Manufacturers make coupons to encourage consumers to buy new products outside of their normal spending habits. That’s why you’ll often see discounts on brand new products that you’ve never tried. If you’re not careful, you can spend a lot of money buying food with coupons that you don’t need.

Before you start clipping coupons, write down your grocery list. This way you know what you need before you start looking for discounts. Each week compare your grocery list to the coupons available. If you find a two for one discount on bread, terrific! But if you get 30% on a packaged dinner that you’ve never bought before it’s best to just pass it by. Only buy what you need and you’ll find your coupon savings will go a lot further.

Making a grocery list and planning your coupons feeds into the next simple tip for grocery savings - staying organized. If you go into a grocery store with a plan of attack you’ll be a lot more likely to stick to your budget. Planning meals and knowing exactly what you need to fix them will help you trim unnecessary items out of your grocery list, which helps you save money. (more…)

Home repairs and improvements can help you increase the value of your home, but they can cost a lot if you’re not careful. You don’t have to spend a lot on your home improvements for them to have a major impact. Here are some tips on making your house a home for the lowest price possible.

1. Decide What You Can Do and What You Must Pay For:  Home improvement doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. The best way to save money on home improvement is to do the vast majority of the work yourself. If you provide the labor, the costs of materials will be negligible compared to what you would have to pay a professional for the same job.

Keep in mind that this only applies for basic home repairs. Unless you’ve had a lot of training or know someone who can guide you, you shouldn’t try to handle your own electrical upgrades. The same goes for repairing your roof. But tiling, wallpaper and other similar projects are definitely within most peoples’ abilities.

Most home improvement stores offer free classes that will teach you most of what you need to know in order to get started on basic home improvement projects. If you don’t have a store close by, there are hundreds of instructional videos online that make it easy to learn what you need to.

2. Set a Budget:  The biggest key to saving money when you are shopping is setting a budget. When you plan our your project and know exactly how much you can afford to spend, it makes it a lot easier to ignore the special offers and upgrades that you’ll see at the home improvement store. It’s really easy to go over your budget when you go into a store unprepared. Make sure you do research on exactly what you need to complete your projects. Watch for sales and buy only what you need. Don’t use the 50% price tag as an excuse to overspend.

If you need some specialty equipment to complete your project, ask around and see if you can borrow from friends or family. Someone in your circle of influence may have just the equipment you need so you won’t have shell out money for something you’ll only use once. This way you’ll stay within your budget and still be able to complete your project.

3. Hire a “Crew” for Cheap:  Your friends and family can also be a good source of cheap labor. If you’re doing some extensive work on your house that requires more than one set of hands, schedule some time with friends and family. Make a day of it and provide them with food. Most will be happy to help as long as you return the favor when they need help.

4. Go Slowly with Home Improvements:  Once you’ve completed one project, you might feel so ambitious that you want to renovate the whole house. Not only can multiple jobs be costly, but you may find yourself burning out halfway through your projects and making mistakes which could cost you in the long run. Plan out your improvements so you can budget for them and ensure that you’ll actually get them done.

Managing debt can seem like quite the task to take on. Many people don’t even know where to begin. Oftentimes, when things seem like are at their worst, people can start feeling like there’s no way to bounce back financially. However, I’ve come up with four tips that can help anyone manage their debt more successfully.

1. Be Organized - A lack of organization could have lead to you being in debt in the first place. That being said, once you’re in debt, organization is quintessential to debt management. Utilizing calendars, planners, organizers, or anything else that will help you make payments on time can be a tremendous help. Additionally, keeping track of paychecks, and keeping strict accounts is also very beneficial. The key to any type of management is organization, and it’s no different with debts.

2. Seek Help If Needed - When trying to manage debt, too many people think they can get through it all by themselves. It never hurts to seek advice from people who have been through things before. Also, if things are bad enough, professional financial help can also be very beneficial. A lot of people find debt consolidation to be extremely effect when trying to manage debt. Remember to not go into anything too hastily, and always read the fine print. Those who are too proud to seek help with their debt management, even if it is needed, usually have further financial difficulties.

3. If Possible, Pay Bills Online - This is my personal preference, and by all means you can continue to deal with checks if you prefer. However, I’ve found that paying bills online can sometimes be much easier, and can help avoid late fees. Whereas with checks, you have to make sure they are in the mail a few days before the due dates, you can sometimes pay bills online the same day. Also, for someone like myself, who finds computers to be a lot easier and more conducive to organization, online payments are the way to go. Rather than worry about filing countless amounts of papers, you can simply put a paperless statement in a folder.

4. Don’t Let Yourself Become Overwhelmed - Staying calm is central to any debt management. Even if the bills are piling up, if you panic, or start to lose focus, things can get much worse. Keeping a clear head and having a defined plan to get out of debt is the best thing to do. This can be accomplished with organization and any help you may feel you need. It’s tremendously difficult to stay organized if you are in panic mode constantly. So remember, just stay calm and focus on the tasks at hand.

So those may only be four tips, but they can significantly help anyone with debt management. Unfortunately, it is generally quite easy to get into debt, but very difficult to get out of debt. The main key to debt management is organization. Paying bills on time and slowly lowering one’s debts requires a significant amount of dedication. Last, but certainly not least, remember to not let yourself become overwhelmed, because that never helps solve debt worries.

Heather P. Johnson is a freelance writer, as well as a contributor for Credit Card Lowdown, a site for finding credit card reviews. Heather invites your comments and freelancing job opportunities at her GMAIL email address.