photo © 2008 Andres Rueda | more info (via: Wylio)
When I first started Family Friendly Frugality, I knew I wanted to approach frugal living from a very relaxed and welcoming mindset. I wanted to create a blog about frugal living that didn’t leave people feeling overwhelmed or less than when they walked away.
The main complaint I hear about saving money nowadays is that it is too darn overwhelming to know where to begin. If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, is clipping a few coupons realistically going to make much of an impact to your bottom line? If you are drowning in student loans and house payments, is living within your means even possible?
The answer to all of the above is yes. While the small things you do might not add up to financial freedom, they do make a big difference. Some of them will chip away at your debt or create more wiggle room in a tight budget. Some of them will simply give you more confidence and a self esteem boost, proving to yourself that you can save money!
So I am starting a Make a Change Monday series where I will simply give you one task to work on for the week. You might already be doing it…so you get to skip that week! If not though, try it out and see if it makes a difference! I’ll keep them small manageable changes that don’t require a lot of effort or learning the drugstore game 
This week’s Make A Change Task:
Banish unnecessary fees and charges from your budget
Each year, we all notice those recurring fees that seem small and meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it’s a credit or debit card annual fee. Maybe it’s a fee for the local swimming pool. Perhaps you pay a fee if you go under a certain balance in your savings or checking account.
Today, pull out your statements from the previous year and go line by line picking out “fees”. Decide which ones are unavoidable and which ones can be prevented. Small, seemingly innocuous fees can wreak havoc on a zero based budget because they seem to come out of nowhere! Make sure you write down when the fee occurs and when it might happen again so you can make sure you are prepared.
Never be caught off guard by fees again!
Be sure to check out previous Make A Change Monday Tasks.
Great tip! I HATE paying for fees, especially for fees that could have been avoided with a little more planning. I used to hate doing bills so I’d avoid it but that ended up costing me a lot more money. Now I try and stay on top of things so I can avoid paying fees when I don’t have to.