Family Budget Tips:Budget Friendly Hobbies That Can Put You a Step Ahead By Michelle P. Sharrow, MBA

Do you clip coupons from the Sunday paper? Do you look forward to receiving e-mail promotions from your favorite stores? Would you like to move from casual saver to saving expert? Then in the words of famous chef Emerald Lagasse - why don't you kick it up another notch - by turning your passion for deals into a hobby? One called couponing.

Did you know that there are web groups and websites dedicated to showing you how to get all of your household items from tea to shampoo for close to nothing using coupons? In fact, there are thousands of people who spend hours of their time finding deals and saving their families hundreds and thousands of dollars each year. Furthermore, they share their strategies with the world via the internet for free.

As someone who clips coupons regularly and visits several chat boards each week looking for deals, I was quite intrigued to be led to HotCouponWorld from a thread on scoring baby diapers for a good price. And even more astonished by what I found and learned in just a few days.

There are forums where members discuss how to organize coupons, how to build stockpiles of food and toiletries, and even how to get good deals at stores all across the country. This community of individuals takes couponing beyond just clipping from a single newspaper by suggesting that you score multiple copies of the paper for the sole purpose of building a stash of coupons so that you can get discounts on more than just one or two of the same item but ten to twenty. Basically, you pay the price you want when you want and buy enough so that you can afford to wait until the next sales cycle to purchase more. Additionally, you can trade coupons and find leads to internet printable coupons.

Beyond couponing is the hobby of blogging. Do you have an interest that you wouldn't mind telling the world about? Do you already have a blog that you write just for fun? Have you ever thought about using it to make money? If you haven't, you should. By setting up a simple blog and committing to posting a few times a week, you could be well on your way to raking in some extra dough. After establishing a blog and getting some posts under your belt, you simply need to advertise it by letting all of your friends and associates know about it. After doing this for a while, sign up for affiliate marketing programs with merchants that sell products similar to what you are blogging about. Signing up is free and every time someone that visits your blog clicks on the affiliate's link and makes a purchase you earn money. It is as simple as that. You can find out more about blogging and affiliate marketing programs by doing a simple google search.

As with all hobbies, you must commit time. But with these two hobbies, you can get paid doing what you enjoy. Both are basically simple, free, and excellent ways to burn some free time while earning money. Happy Hobbying!

Michelle is a freelance writer based in Waldorf, Maryland. Her areas of expertise include finances and parenting. Visit her on the web at http://www.michellesharrow.com.

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