I will be the first to tell you that our family is not financially well off or even comfortable. What I can say is that we have had so many hits to our budget in the last several years, that most families would have gone down in flames, but we are still here and stronger than before. We have had two unexpected pregnancies, one just happened to include twins. At one point, both of us were unemployed for a five month period. We have had more car trouble than your average family has in a lifetime. We have made some not so smart business choices. And then we had to deal with having a child with a chronic illness and the stack of medical bills that came with it. And this is just the short list!

I believe the only reason we are still "getting by" is that we have some strong ideas for saving money and making money where you might not usually look. The best way to stay afloat during tough times is to always be preparing to win!

So, how do you prepare to win? In our case, we had to come to the conclusion that we didn't know as much as we thought we did. We research new and old ideas constantly to find better methods for saving money. And this might surprise you, helping others will help you prepare to win! There are several reasons why this is true.

• It will make you feel better, which will, in turn, make you more productive!
• It will help you to put your own situation in perspective. No matter how bad it gets, there is almost always someone who has it worse!
• In finding ways to help someone else, you may find answers to your own problems.
• Friends help friends! Is there a better way to make a friend, than to lend a helping hand? Your new friend is likely to return the favor.

Part of the reason we decided to create this site, Tips on saving Money, was to help others get through tough financial times. We are still learning and always researching and testing new ideas. We will only pass along what has worked for us.

I hope the suggestions on "Tips on Saving Money" work as well for you as they have for us.

If you have a suggestion or tip that has worked for you or you have heard about something you would like us to try, feel free to let us know by going to our Contact Us page. We look forward to hearing from you.

Photo by Kevin Collins