It's the financial equivalent of being stuck between a rock and a hard place: How can you build your family's savings when you're barely making ends meet as it is? Or when you're struggling to get out of debt?

Theoretically I should have two college funds going right now, one for each of my kids ... but I figure it's probably more important that they're fed and clothed in the meantime.

(The electric bill is a priority too, as I can't imagine doing homework by candlelight would do much for their academic future, either.)

If you're like me and getting your family's finances under control feels like an overwhelming, if not impossible, task -- take heart. And take one step at a time. 

Here are a few easy ways to get started ...

I hate it when I get to the store -- like the Carter's outlet near me -- and find that I had to have signed up for their email updates to get a discount. Of course, being a frugal consumer (read: cheap bee-yotch), I am happy to take 10 minutes to step away from the register, sign up for the emails using my smartphone, and present my coupon like I'd planned to do that all along. Never mind the irony of being a cheapo with a smartphone. I'd sooner give up my dishwasher.There's just one problem with the money-saving emails: Sometimes the time you spend unraveling the exact deal, and how much you can actually save, costs more than the savings. And sometimes, if you really look, you aren't saving anything. When did my money-saving email deals turn into spam-scams?

Hey, billing errors happen. We’ve all opened a utility bill and said, “This doesn’t seem right,” and 9 times out of 10, it’s all resolved with a quick phone call. Even when it’s an aquarium-sized water bill for a three-bedroom house. But what if that billing error happened, and you’ve authorized electronic billing? If you’re like one Chicago-area family, you could end up overpaying by more than a hundred grand for a month’s worth of electricity. Oops.

I love hand-me-downs. I shop at consignment stores, and when I’m done with my found treasures, I donate them to local charities. But it would never occur to me to do this with my home.

Yet, for some homeowners, especially ones in foreclosure, donating a house to charity may be the only way out of an awful situation -- and it seems like it could even be a path back to financial well-being. It's becoming quite popular, in fact, because it not only allows the homeowner who can't sell her/his house a way out, but also the donated homes -- many of which are renovated and resold -- add new value to the neighborhood. Here’s how it works:

Occupy Connecticut Light and Power! The electric company of the Constitution State was charging an old Italian guy $220 a month for power in his condo. He knew the bills were wrong because he hardly used any electricity or gas at home. Meanwhile, his barbershop was tricked out with electric everything and plenty of A/C, and its bill only topped out at $150 a month.

He kept trying to tell the company that something was wrong. They kept saying the only thing wrong was he wasn’t sending checks fast enough. This went on for 10 years, before the guy’s son went in and straightened things out. (Why did that take 10 years, anyway?) In the end, they finally had to cut him a check ... for guess how much?

In the heat of summer, in a record drought year, I think we all expect we’re going to see a jump in our utility bills. I lived in one house where the clunky, old air conditioner cost roughly $25 a day to run -- so we made sure it was pretty darn hot before turning it on and spent a lot of time in the kiddie pool out back. But a monthly water bill for more than $50,000 ($53,061.92, to be exact)? It happened to a woman in Colorado. It said she had used more than 8 million gallons of water in a month. For comparison purposes, the Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest, and it has 10 million gallons of water. In contrast, Lisa Mannion’s home is an unassuming three-bedroom home with a drought-resistant garden (according to Google Street View). What would you do if you opened a bill for that much? And what happened to make it jump?

Everybody's on a budget these days, but that doesn't mean we have to give up having family fun! In fact, you might just find that spending less money turns out to be more fun. Really!

Just think about the stories your grandparents used to tell ... how awesome did their childhoods sound? My grandfather's early years were apparently a bigger barrel of laughs than an episode of The Little Rascals, and that was during the Great Depression. Back then, a bag of marbles was the closest thing a kid was gonna get to a Wii.

And maybe that was a good thing!

So, keeping that in mind, check out these 5 Ways to Save Money Without Spoiling the Fun:

Elizabeth Taylor's ranch-style Bel Air, California home is up for sale for $8.6 million. Any takers? The "fully gated and secured" property sits on a modest 1.27 acres, but is stocked to the nines with all sorts of great features, like a koi pond with a waterfall, a pool and spa, maid's quarters, and a "secret bamboo jungle." Not bad. And it wasn't just all aesthetics. Sounds like Elizabeth and her family filled the place with good memories.

Elizabeth's son, Christopher Wilding, said of the house:

This was where we all gathered, especially at Thanksgiving and Easter ... She never entertained the notion of moving.

Aw. It's kind of sad to hear that. Sounds like Elizabeth loved her house dearly. So, is it weird that it's up on the market so quickly?