Right now you're probably in survival mode. You want to be able to pay your bills and provide for your family. Saving money may not seem realistic given your situation. But with a little thought you may be surprised that you can find ways to save money. To begin, think about your lifestyle in categories, for example, transportation, housing, food, debt, entertainment, and clothing. Write down each of those categories and leave a few spaces to brainstorm ways you could cut expenses in order to build your savings. Here is a sample list of ways to cut expenses:

Transportation

• Consider selling any unused or unaffordable car and buying a good quality used car for cash
• Comparison shop for gas - look for the local station that consistently offers the lowest cost
• Look into carpooling options to lower weekly gas costs      

Housing          

• Consider refinancing your mortgage
• Food    Use grocery store weekly ads to plan menus and buy food on sale
• Buy in bulk (but limit yourself to what you really need!)

Debt    

• Cut up a few credit cards to eliminate the temptation
• Consider consolidating your credit debt
• Contact creditors to arrange a payment plan

Entertainment 

• Eat out less or invite friends over instead
• Rent movies instead of going to the theater
• Check the paper for free local weekend events

Clothing          

• Consider buying (and selling!) on consignment
• Shop discount and outlet centers
• Buy off-season (i.e. buy summer clothes at the end of August for the following season)

Invite your kids to be part of your brainstorming session. Although they may not be excited about the idea of cutting costs, get creative and offer some incentives (like an extra late bedtime or getting out of having to do chores one week) if they come up with ideas that benefit the family. Set a family goal and put a visual reminder (like fundraising "thermometers") on the refrigerator to see how much progress you're making toward your savings goal.