The unemployment rate is the highest it’s been in 30 something years and 1 in 10 homeowners are either in foreclosure or late on their mortgage payment.

I’m totally not into fear mongering and wish the media would stop it, but it’s really time for the middle class for cut way back and learn to be frugal. In fact, things wouldn’t be so bad for a lot of households if they simply cut back.

I know a family that constantly complain about how poor they are and about how bad things are money wise, but they keep going on vacations and eat out more than they eat at home-what’s that all about! If they would eat at home and not go on so many vacations, they’d actually have more money. Big surprise!

The older generation things that parents of today are spoiling their kids like crazy and it’s even backfiring.

Way back when kids got homemade Christmas presents like homemade dolls and trucks and crocheted mittens and hats instead of video games, video games systems, cell phones, cash, ipods, and blackberries.

Give a kid today a pair of crocehted mittens for Christmas and they’d probably kill you. Hopefully not literally, but you never know today.

If things are so bad moneywise:

• cancel your cable/satellite
• have a landline phone and no cell phones
• if you have a cell phone stop text messaging unless it’s free
• stop buying video games
• buy clothes and books at thrift stores and not retail
• cook at home instead of eating out

If you’ve done all this and are still struggling, then there are more drastic measures you can take such as moving to a cheaper place or renting a room out if you have an extra room for a homestay or something. (Be sure to get a background check and have rules in place first). Or going to a food pantry if things are really bad.

And if you STILL need help, then it’s time to put yoru efforts into making more money instead of just saving it. You can’t save what you don’t have.

If you are unemployed, fill out applications everyday. Even if you go to the same place more than once, then they will know you’re serious.

Or if you have no income and can’t find a job go on welfare.

Ok these last steps are for the low class/poor and not the middle class.

Anyway the middle class needs to start shopping smarter and not spoil their kids so much. Besides, love is better than any material item period.

The major news has been the economy for quite a while now. There’s been a $700 Billion approved to bail out the greedy, elite bankers that caused this whole problem (So they can party hard, right AIG?)

A lot of people are getting very worried over the economy. People are worried about losing their home and going from comfortable middle class life to homelessness.

I am not panicked like it seems the majority of Americans are, for one reason because everywhere I go, everyone is talking and texting on their cell phones, the majority of Americans have satellite or cable (around $39-100+ a month) and restaurants are still very crowded on weekend afternoons. I can’t see people starving to death while they are texting on their phones and watching MTV.

On the other hand, some people, including finance guru Suze Orman are saying that the current financial state is worse than the Great Depression of 1929.

Regardless of how serious the economy crisis (caused by the elite bankers) is, here are some tips for you to cut back to keep more money from going out of your pockets:

1) STOP TEXTING- Different phones have different plans, and I’m not a texter, but as far as I know, texting costs money. Someone recently showed me a $600+ phone bill run up by teenagers who got carried away with text messaging. They were even charged everytime someone sent them a text message.

If you want to say something to someone CALL THEM UP and forget about texting them.

2) Cut Back on Winter heating and Summer cooling- learn how to cut back on your utilities. There is advice right here on this website.

3) Pull the plug on satellite or cable- If your finances are so bad that your stomach is in knots, it’s a very unwise decision to throw $50+ away every month for TV channels. Some people are so addicted to TV they would rather die than not have their hundreds of channels. Some people don’t think they can survive without their satellite/cable.

Well guess what? People have survived thousands of years with no TV at all, muchless hundreds of channels. Second of all, it’s not healthy to be a couch potato addicted to TV. You’ll get fat and unhealthy. Thirdly it turns your mind to mush and besides if you have an internet connection which is much cheaper than cable, you can watch tons of movies and TV shows online for no extra charge. So, if things are that bad for you financially, you have no business even having cable until you can actually afford it.

4) Frugal Gifts- You want to get your family and friends nice gifts for holidays and birthdays. Well, that’s hard if money is tight. Bills can add up super fast if you get carried away buying everyone the Christmas gifts you think they want.

You can still get your loved ones gifts without spending a fortune. Remember, it’s not about how much $$$ you spend (although it may be to spoiled teenagers). You are buying gifts for your loved ones, not buying their love.

So learn how to give wonderful gifts for less. (There will be a post on this in the future.) For example, if you are accustomed to spending $50 on a gift for Tina, start spending $25. If you have 3 kids and you spend $100 each for Christmas toys (that you know they will tire of quickly) spend $50 instead and spend it smarter. That would be $150 savings right there.

5) Check out the second hand shops for clothes. Clothes can be very expensive. Especially if you have growing kids, you have to buy a new wardrobe every time the season changes. Before you go to the mall or Wal-Mart or any other store, check the second hand stores.

Recently I went to a Salvation Army Thrift Store to look for baby girl clothes for fall and winter. The infant/toddler clothes there are only 99 cents each. I ended up buying around $50 worth of clothes. Some of them were brands like Old Navy, Gymboree, Children’s Place and The Disney Store. Some of the outfits were so adorable. After folding the clothes at home, I realized if I bought this stuff at a mall, $50 would have only gotten me around 3 pieces of clothes. But I got about 50 pieces of clothes.

Savings like this really adds up.

6) Drink more water- Cut back on sodas, juices, sports drinks, coffees, and drink more water instead. The (almost) free kind of water, that is.

7) Make your own cards- There are cute cards out there for every holiday and birthday and some even play music and there are some you can record your own greeting on. Yeah, they are cute, but these cards cost around $5 each and let’s be honest-most people end up throwing away their cards shortly after they read them. So instead of buying a card for everyone for Christmas or their birthday, make your own cards. People actually appreciate when someone takes the time to make a card for them.

If you really want to save money, try cutting back. Cutting back on certain things can save hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars a year. Here are some ways to cut back and keep more of your money:

1) Cancel your satellite or cable- *Gasp* I know some people are simply addicted to their favorite TV shows and might not even cancel all those channels if their life depended on it. However, if you decide there are better things to spend money on than hundreds of TV channels, you can save a lot of money by turning it off. Try watching less TV and rent movies free from the library. You can also watch movies and TV shows for free on various websites. If you spend $50 a month for all those channels, that would be a savings of $600 a year.

2) Get a less expensive phone plan. If you have a monthly phone plan that costs a lot, get a cheaper plan. If you talk a lot on the phone, most companies offer free nights and weekends so you can plan to do more of your talking on nights and weekends. If you get a plan that costs $20 less a month, that’s a savings of $240 a year.

3) Cut back on eating out. If you eat out a lot, cut back to one time a week. Eating at restaurants is nice because you don’t have to cook or do dishes, but it can add up. Unless you are eating off the dollar menu everytime and that can’t be healthy.

4) Don’t pay retail for clothes. Look at thrift stores for clothes. You can find some good clothes at good prices if you find the right store. Also check yard sales or ebay. Shop at the big stores when they have big sales. Pay attention to your junk mail to see when the stores in the mall are having clearance sales.

5) Pack your lunch to work instead of eating out. If you work and regularly eat out for lunch, packing your lunch can save you a lot of money.

6) Find free or cheap entertainment. If you spend a lot of money on entertainment like going to the movies, look for alternative entertainment. Invite friends over on Friday nights for snacks, games, and chatting. Go on a picnic, ride bikes, hike, play family games or take up a sport or hobby.

With food prices having gone up faster than anyone can remember, more and more families are looking for low cost meals.

A common meal for poor families in the country was pinto beans and cornbread. Before food stamps, many poor rural people grew up on pinto beans and corn bread because it was cheap and filling.

Cutting back on meats and eating more pastas and beans will save on your grocery bill. Ramen noodles are cheap, but it doesn’t take long to get sick of them.

Noodles, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese are low cost meals or sides. With creativity, you can still eat good and cut back on your grocery bill.

Ipods, Xboxes, Mp3 players, video games, think of all the stuff we have we don’t need. We live in such a materialistic culture that teens think cell phones are Ipods are necessities just like food and clothing and air.

With the price of food soaring faster than it has ever soared before, the highest ever gas prices, along with the recession, some people will have to learn to cut back on the stuff they don’t really need. And some people will have to learn the difference in what they really do need and really don’t need. You need food. You don’t need an Ipod.

Think of all the money an average family would have if they didn’t it on certain “luxuries”. Some families would be rich if they could get back all that they’ve spent on video games. It seems every year a newer, better, must have model of some video game system comes out. How many different Nintendos are there? The latest model was the Nintendo Wii. The original Nintendo came out in the 1980’s. And I don’t even know how many different versions have come in between, but it’s a lot.

When trying to save money and cut back on your budget, look at how much you are spending on stuff you really don’t need.

Only buy those wanted, but certainly not needed things on special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas and set a reasonable limit to what you will spend on these non necessities.

Rather than playing video games or listening to your Ipod, try spending time with what’s really important in your life, the people you love. You can’t buy them at a store. Go on a walk, have a good conversation and enjoy each others company. And it’s free.