Stories with tips on how to survive this economic downtown are a dime a dozen. You can get many helpful hints daily in an almost-daily basis on Page 2 of The Eagle’s print edition and at Kansas.com in our News2Use section.
Today’s story: Frugality, freebies have appeal in down economy
Wednesday is the deadline to file your state and federal tax returns (unless, of course, you file for an extension).
If you’re still awaiting a tax refund, you might want to consider these helpful suggestions on what to do with it.
In a nutshell, here’s the six suggestions:
By the way, if you’re still working on your taxes – or haven’t started at all – Eagle reporter Deb Gruver tells you where to get free help.
CBS’ “The Early Show” continues to have helpful hints on areas you could cut costs in your budget. A report this morning points out five “retail ripoffs” you might want to keep in mind. The offending products:
The story offers alternatives to the highly marked-up products.
Watch the video report:
We’re all about passing on tips on how to squeeze more out of your budget. Today’s Eagle has another 25 ways for you to start stretching your funds.
A sampling of the ideas:
Share your ideas on cutting expenses below.
The CBS Early Show had a useful report this morning taking a look at a high-tech twist to a longtime way of helping cut costs: coupon clipping.
View the video:
The report included links to some handy sites:
News on the jobs front is getting gloomier, both locally and nationally. Just today:
Wichita is used to the ups and downs of the jobs cycle, certainly. But that doesn’t make it any easier emotionally. So what do you do IF or, for more and more people, WHEN you lose your job? A story in today’s Wichita Eagle has some excellent, upbeat ways for you to survive – even thrive – if you lose your job.
I fondly recall listening as a kid as my grandmother, my mom and my aunts recounted how they completely cleaned their plates and picked every last piece of meat off those chicken bones. They had to. It was tough living during the Great Depression in rural Iowa.
So I perked up when a colleague pointed out there’s a 90-some-year-old lady hawking her Great Depression cooking as a way to get through this, erm, economic downturn. Clara Cannucciari, a great-grandmother from upstate New York, has a YouTube channel, a Facebook page (search for (Clara Cannucciari) a Web site, of course, and apparently a good publicist. She’s promoting a DVD on her site. But she shares many on YouTube.
Watch a video as she prepares Pasta With Peas:
Times are tough, but there are ways you can still live the life somewhat close to what you’re used to. By adjusting your daily habits and buying patterns – even your accessorizing – you can still *look and feel* like you’re living like you used to.
That’s the theme of a feature in Real Simple magazine (click to visit its newly redesigned Web site), which was on CBS Morning News (click to watch the video) today.
Some of the tips:
By the way, Real Simple and CNN are taking a survey on how the flagging economy has affected Americans.
Here’s a digest of money tips from Real Simple.
Got any cost-cutting tips? Share away.
A recent story says prepaid phones, which provide a set number of minutes, are becoming a more appealing financial option as careful household budgeting becomes paramount in a tight economy.
According to the story, Consumer Reports says that a family with two cell phones that talks 700 minutes per month could save $100 to $220 a year buying per-minute packs from Virgin Mobile (which is available in Wichita) as opposed to large carriers’ contract family plans. And for really incessant talkers, Virgin’s $80 prepaid unlimited plan will save them $240 a year compared with unlimited contract plans from the major carriers.
Eagle columnist Suzanne Tobias has assembled a great list of things you and your family can do for free at home.
Some of the suggestions:
We’re pretty sure you can think of more. Tell us below.