We asked financial experts and parents how to survive a stalled economy. And they provided some enlightening strategies – doable ideas that can make a difference. Whether you’re coping with long-term joblessness or a strained bank account, here’s where to start:

Know Where Your Money Goes

It sounds obvious, but many people have no idea where their money goes. “They think they do but they don’t keep real close track of it,” says Jennifer Lane, a certified financial planner, and co-author of personal finance books, including The Everything Guide to Personal Finance in Your 40s and 50s (Adams Media, 2010) and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Protecting your 401(k) and IRA (Alpha, 2009).“People don’t realize how much money they spend on stuff that they don’t really care about.”

Overhaul Fixed Expenses First

When cutting back, most people think of day-to-day expenses for things like groceries, gas, eating out, etc. But family finance guru Ellie Kay says the first place to look is your fixed expenses – auto, home and health insurance, the mortgage and seasonal utility costs.

Auto Insurance 

• Comparison shop. Get a quote from another insurer. Statistically speaking, people who switch their auto insurance coverage can save an average of $400 a year (sometimes by bundling it with home insurance, for example), Kay says. But don’t necessarily switch if you get a lower quote. Call your current carrier, tell them what you can save with another insurer and ask what they can do to keep your business. Usually, they’ll work with you to more closely match the competition.• Taken a driver’s training course? Send your insurer the certificate. It can save you 10 to 15 percent in insurance costs.• If you have a soldier or veteran in your immediate family, you qualify for USAA, the military’s insurance provider. USAA offers some of the best rates out there for auto and homeowner’s insurance, Kay says. If your spouse, parent or in-law is or was in the military, your family qualifies.

Homeowner’s Insurance

• Re-evaluate your homeowner or rental policy. “Most of the time your insurance is rolled into your mortgage payment,” Kay says. “You get it in the mail and assume your bank is paying it, so you ignore it.” Call your insurance provider, tell them you think you’re paying too much and ask for help with your premiums.

• Consider what is being insured. “You should insure the replacement value of the home, not the dirt [the property around it],” Kay says. So if you bought the house and land for $300,000, don’t insure the lot.

Health Insurance

• Visit ehealthinsurance.com online. Compare different carriers’ quotes and packages and tailor one to fit your needs.

• Update your insurance to reflect your family’s specific health needs. If you’re not having any more kids, drop maternity coverage; if two of your three kids have asthma, put them on your working spouse’s group insurance plan. Then put the healthy child and yourself on an individual plan. “That’s a lot cheaper in most cases,” Kay says.

• Try to attach a health savings account (HSA) to your policy. These are accounts where you deposit funds in advance for doctors’ appointments, medicine, etc. Then you use the HSA card to pay for those expenses over the year. You can roll any funds you haven’t spent into future years.

Mortgage and Car Loans

Utilities 

Then Tackle Your Daily Expenses 

Groceries, Clothing, Personal Care Products 

• Look for announcements about sales and special deals on Facebook or Twitter and wesites of your grocer, drugstore, home goods or clothing retailer.• Visit savings sites like Couponmom.com. Combine a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon.• Look for unusual deals. As companies expand their department stores to include groceries, for instance, special coupons or grocery cards may offer a bigger discount if you shop there.

Gas 

• Visit fuelcostcalculator.com, a website sponsored by AAA, to calculate what it will cost to drive to various destinations. Download apps from gaspricewatch.com, fuelmeup.com or gasbuddy.com for locations of the cheapest gas prices.• Clean out your trunk. Sports equipment and other heavy items weigh down your vehicle and decrease your mileage.• Pace your driving. Jack-rabbit starts and stops, and low air pressure in your tires will cost you in fuel efficiency. Plan your trips during off hours; you’ll save on gas if you encounter less traffic.

• Make your teens pay for driving that isn’t necessary – visiting friends, driving to Six Flags, etc. “Teens will always take the longest route,” Kay muses. “They love to drive. Some parents charge their teens a flat rate to drive – maybe it’s, ‘You pay for half of every tank of gas.’”

Subscription Services

With today’s online options forTV, music, gaming and fitness, it is likely that you are being charged for services you are no longer using. The average American spends over $275 dollars a month on subscription services. Unfortunately, when asked, most people dramatically under report how much of their monthly budget goes to these services. Plus, with credit card and banking statements going paperless, you need to work a bit harder to look over your monthly statements to check for unwanted monthly fees. Also, if you are trying to trim the fat, keep a record of how much you are spending each month of subscription services. You may be surprised at what you find!

Be Selective with Childhood Expenses 

“It’s not an inalienable right for your child to be doing two sports, music lessons, etc.,” Kay says. “Have them pick one thing and work on it; do it well.”

What about pleas for top-brand sneakers or jeans? “Don’t say no to kids when they want those; tell them you’ll pay for them, but not for the brand,” Kay says. “Look for a reasonable price for a pair of jeans or sneakers and tell your kids you’ll pay that amount but they’ll have to pay the extra, say, $50 that comes with a top brand name.” This teaches your kids to compare the cost of brands to lower-cost, good-quality items. “They’ll start to think, ‘Wow, do I really want to pay that much when it’ll go out of style or I have to babysit three kids for three hours just to raise money for it?” Kay says.

Don’t Forget Your Savings Account 

When your kids are young and daycare costs hit $1,000 a month, saving that much might be impossible. “But realize that when they come out of daycare, the money you were spending then can become savings,” Lane says.

Plan for the Big Expenses 

“You may not be needing to own your own home or invest in the 401(k) fully right now,” she says. “Sit down and do a plan – ‘We’re going to take the next six years until child number three is in second grade and not put anything into the 401(k) except for one spouse’s company match.’ That’s OK, because if you’re paying a lot for daycare right now, you can start investing that money when the kids are out of daycare and you’ll catch up.”

The prospect of paying for college for seven kids forced Kay’s family into a team strategy. “We paid a portion of college expenses for the kids. But the kids’ job was to get the scholarships, do work-study programs, score high enough in high school [on standardized tests like Advanced Placement] to get credit for courses in college.”

And If You’re Still Without a Job? 

“We’re going to see a lot of people starting their own businesses from all of this,” Kay says. “They’ll be working harder because they’re working for themselves. They could very well look back and see this bad economy as a blessing rather than a curse.”

Don’t Sacrifice Fun!