Saving money can be difficult whether you’re the head of a small or large family. While it’s often easy to dismiss the discrepancy between how much you earn and how much you spend on the vicissitudes of the economy, this is an oversimplification.

In fact, it’s difficult to save money for a wide number of reasons.

Many families who are struggling to make ends meet have no idea where their money is going, have no budget, have no clear money goals, and have bad money habits.

Meanwhile, other families, who earn a high income, may not save because they don’t understand the value of savings or may not prioritize savings.

Still, the situation is far from hopeless, and here are some tips for your family to start saving money when it comes to purchasing eyeglasses, clothes, shoes, beauty care products, and groceries.

Save Money on Prescription Eyeglasses

Your family does have a choice when it comes to what it pays for eyeglasses.

While it may be necessary for one or more family members to wear eyeglasses, it isn’t necessary to pay the full retail price. Although the average price for eyeglasses from a retail store is still about $200, you can now buy eyeglasses online for far less–in fact, even less than $100.

Save Money on Clothes

There are many ways your family can save on clothes.

Family members could sell what they don’t wear at consignment shops and use the money to buy new clothes.

You could shop at retail outlet stores or at thrift stores.

You could also buy clothes more cheaply online by searching for online coupons online or clearance sales.

Finally, you could buy clothes for family members when clothes are out of season.

Save Money on Shoes

When it comes to buying shoes, it doesn’t pay to go cheap. There is no point in wearing shoes that are uncomfortable and cause foot and posture problems.

Fortunately, there are many ways to save money on shoes. You could, for example, buy clothes from an outlet store or search the Internet, and you could use coupons or a good store rewards program.

Save Money on Beauty Care

When it comes to beauty care you are paying a great deal for products from department stores. This is because the leading brands spend a tremendous amount of research and marketing to formulate and distribute their products.

While an alternative might be to buy cheaper, generic beauty products from a regular drug store, the best route may be to make your own cosmetics.

There are many natural beauty recipes available online for everything from hair care to skin care. In fact, many people who make their own cosmetics says that they get better results from their organic home-made products than from buying popular beauty products.

Save Money on Grocery Bills

Yes, the price of groceries has gone up but there are still ways that you can save on grocery bills. The trick is to be strategic in how you shop.

Here 5 tips on how to spend less when you shop:

• Never go shopping immediately after you’ve received your paycheck or if you or your family members are hungry. You always end up spending more than you should when you feel rich or when you feel hungry.
• Plan your menu a week ahead so that you can take advantage of store advertising price changes to decide when to make your purchases.
• Learn about the art of couponing — where to get coupons from and how to organize and use them.
• Buy produce when it is in season.
• Check the unit price of products rather than simply rely on the big price tag numbers. Think in terms of quantity, too.
• Understand the difference in price is between various supermarkets in your neighborhood. Many times, there is a dollar or more difference for exactly the same food product.

In closing, one way to motivate yourself to start saving is to make a long list of the benefits of savings. For instance, you could save money for bad times, for emergencies, for college, for housing, for travel, or for retirement.