How does a single mother of three kids survive on $31,000? First of all, she doesn’t live in New Jersey. After some unfortunate circumstances and some bad moves, Tricia offers some tips for making the most out of what you earn. The MSN article offers all of her tips, but to summarize, the list includes being careful about purchases, taking care of debt regularly, scaling back, and educating yourself.
She also mentions putting your tax refund in the bank; I suggest trying to optimize your withholding so you keep most of what would be your refund in the bank, earning interest throughout the year.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published June 27, 2005. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
