In recent years, finances have become more important than ever. A lot of places are experiencing a decline in jobs and a lack of financial security. Things are starting to improve a little, but most people still have a long ways to go. If you are looking for ways to increase your ability to stay afloat, there are a few financial moves worth looking at this year. You may not see how it helps you today, but over time, it will begin to add up in your favor. We should caution you, we are NOT financial advisors nor do we ever aspire to be, these are merely our opinions.

Clean Up Your Mistakes

One of the best things a person can do for themselves is clean up the mess that they have already created with their finances. Most people have credit card debts, mortgages, and of course the common bills that come each and every month. In some cases, you may only pay the minimal amount owed on payments in the hopes that you will skate by a little longer. It works, but it also leaves you constantly struggling and sometimes paying out more than you can afford throughout the month, especially if your credit card debt has a high percentage of interest on it.

If this sounds like a situation you are in, why not consider consolidating all of your bills into one payment for all those debts per month. One payment will send a little cash to everyone and often, debt collectors are willing to deal with it and not call you up to hassle you for more money. The best part is, while paying it off, you should not be able to add more to it, which means you will continuously be making small, but important steps toward freeing yourself from debt.

You may also want to look at the optional expenses that you need to spend. Phones, internet, car insurance, etc. are required bills in today’s world. Taking time every year or so to see if you are on the best plan for your family could go a long way in helping you to get out of debt a little faster.

Most people do not think that they can invest while living week to week on their paycheck. This is true to some extent. However, even as a working class family, you need to have something set aside for when you are nearing retirement age. Retirement funds are only good if you put forth the money into them and with the way things are going, no one can bank on the fact that they may get social security benefits to help them. There are rumors that it will not be available in the future and even if it is, it will not be enough for you to live on from one month to another. Take heart. There is help for you. You can invest small amounts and gain.

Begin Investing

One of the main things you have to do when you begin considering how you will increase your funds is figure out how much you are able to set aside and put into it. This means sitting down as a family and discussing the way you currently live, the necessities, and how much money you have coming into your home each month. If you notice that you are living life wasting away some of the money that you earn, you will have to consider giving up some of the luxuries.

For instance, visiting a fast food restaurant every day for lunch may not seem like a major expense. Most meals can be purchased for about $5.00. Look at the bigger picture. Five dollars a day over five working days equals $25 per week. Over four weeks, that is $100. Then you can look at the year totals. If you take away those fast food lunches and pack leftovers from the night before, you immediately save that much per month and per year.

Unless you know of a huge company that you can invest money into quickly and see an immediate gain, you most likely do not feel that you can double your money anytime in the near future. The sad part is, not many people know of a huge company that is pulling in major amounts of money, to invest in. Therefore, most people throw their hands up in the air and continue to simply hope for something to happen and improve their circumstances. Some say, the best way to double a dollar is fold it over and put it back in your pocket. Instead of living your life like this, perhaps it is time to learn the best way to double your investments quickly. The best part is, you do not have to be a major investor to begin.

With the internet era, and people needing more money, is it any wonder that there are advertisements everywhere stating you can get rich quick? The promises are big, the promised money is bigger, and the cost to get started can be very little. Whether you have ever attempted to try these schemes or not, they are tempting and virtually everyone who has a computer has looked at it wondering if they were a legitimate option or not. Everyone wants to know, do get rich schemes work or not. Before you dive in, perhaps you should look at the truth.

The Bad

Remember that saying, “If you want money, you have to work for it”? The person who said it was not as dumb as you may have hoped. Earning money, whether a little bit or a million dollars, is going to take some degree of effort on your part. That is where get rich quick schemes fail. There are honestly not very many legitimate get rich quick schemes that can actually work.

As a good rule of thumb, when you see a “job” opportunity that promises you will start to earn money by simply clicking a button, there is going to be a catch that you may not enjoy. No one can make a million dollars by clicking email. It does not matter whether it is a claim that your rich great uncle twice removed has passed and you are the sole heir or if they tell you that by clicking this email link you can open your own store to make thousands in a month. Most of these things want either a healthy down payment on your new store, bank account information, or will leave you with a healthy dose of computer viruses.

The Good

The best way to make money is by doing something you are familiar with and good at. If you have a job currently where you get up every day and go to work, you may want to see if they have a job opportunity that allows you to work at home sometimes as well. If this is not what you are after or you do not have a job currently going, you can make money through other means by using your computer, as long as you have something to base it on.

If you enjoy yard sales or have a lot of things lying around your house that you do not need, you can sell items on craigslist or eBay. If you enjoy writing about your thoughts, things you try, such as crafts, or writing about the insanity of raising a house full of kids, then you can take up blogging. There is money to be made in it, if you are interesting or have something to say that others want to hear. However, to start making money with a blog, you will need to gain fans and then have people who want to advertise on your blog.

Other Alternatives

There are plenty of ways that you can legitimately work from home. There are jobs that need a typist who sits at a computer either writing emails, filling in forms, or writing articles if you have the desire to do so. You can even find websites that allow you to design tee-shirts and other items to express your creativity and perhaps get paid. In most cases, for these avenues you are a freelancer. You may work for one person or company, or you may work for a variety of people if they need your services today. If this is not something you are interested in doing, there are survey sites that do pay, pay-per-click emails where you visit a website and earn a little money from it. All of these things can help you to put a little cash flow into your pocket, but with most of them, it will take you quite a while to make enough extra cash to survive on.

Life is complicated and stressful. On the one hand, you may want to make more money than you have, which could easily mean working more often, or you want to kick back and simply enjoy the money that you have already earned. Either option may leave you feeling more stressed out. After all, how can you enjoy fun times with your family when you can barely pay for your rent? There is a way. Why not try these ideas and see if you can learn how to have fun on a budget? It may be the best thing you have ever done for yourself and your family.