Everywhere we turn, we see the effects of price increases and the toll it's taking on a lot of people. From the cost of a gallon of gas (or public transportation) to mortgage payments to clothes to food, the issue of not enough money is now the foremost thought on a lot of people's minds. ("How are we going to make it?")

Short of rapid-fire financial miracles one right after the other, there is something heads of households can do if they implement the following three strategies simultaneously, and stick with it until they see the financial results they desire.

1. Start a business. Besides the obvious of having more income, you also get to minimize your taxes. If you are working on a regular job, you have no control over taxes are taken out of your paycheck before you even see it . Social security is taken right off the top along with other mandatory deductions -- and that doesn't include dues, medical and dental insurance, and the like.

Not so with your own business! With the government's approval, here in the U.S. you get to write off all of your expenses first, and then pay taxes on whatever is left over.

So your much-needed vacation can be easily proven to be a business trip if you can prove that you conducted legitimate business while you were on it, such as prospecting for business, or even better yet, actually selling your product or service. It's the "intent" to grow your business the IRS is looking for.

Same with having a party. You can have fun and take photos of your product table with samples arranged very nicely while the attendees are looking at them and/or reading your product brochures. (Say, "cheese!")

You might also include a guest book or sign-in sheet for your attendees at the product table. Take photos of the guest book or sign-in sheet as well. And after a few business formalities (which hopefully you can record -- even if via your cell phone and then later saved to a CD ROM (or even uploaded to YouTube), you can get your party on and write all of your party expenses off!

So you get to bring in money from products or services sold, as well as write off expenses while you're having fun!

2. Eliminate your debt. Start with paying off the smaller ones first. After you've paid those off, take the previous bills' payments and add it to the payment(s) on the next bill or sets of bills. You will need to stay focused and disciplined to do this. But the payoff will be sweet. (So while others are complaining about gas being $X.00 per gallon, you can just filler 'er up and not worry about cost the way you used to.)

If you choose to go with a debt reduction company, be sure to do your due diligence first! There are debt reduction company representatives who see their job as just a job and not necessarily as an opportunity to help those who require their services. So they may recommend filing bankruptcy without fully disclosing all of the ramifications of that decision, and not care about the debtors' welfare at all.

Make sure that you ask what are some of the recommendations they might ask you to take before you hire them to help you. Do your own due diligence on each of the companies you might want to hire to help you get out of debt.

I highly recommend that you read "Money Mastery" by Alan Williams, Peter Jeppson, and Sanford Botkin before you begin interviewing any debt reduction companies.

3. Create passive income. Although there are many people who can still purchase rental properties and/or build their portfolio incomes via commodities, there are some steps the less-than-fortunate can take to build a nice passive income as well.

Write your own book or ebook on something you're passionate about. If you are into music, you can do that too. In both cases, you can publish your work on sites like LULU.com for free. And they also show you how to promote your product.

If your current situation is one where you cannot purchase a domain name and pay for monthly web hosting fees just yet, you can create an affiliate contract and have your affiliate partners promote your product on their websites and split the revenue. Sites like e-junkie.com and paydotcom.com will allow you to create your own affiliate program, as well as sell your product(s). You can also promote your product on sites like this one (Hubpages), Squidoo and others.

If you're really strapped for cash, you might want to consider promoting other people's products as an affiliate partner yourself. Sites like Clickbank.com is a great place to find great products that pay well. And don't forget eBay and Amazon! They, too, have affiliate (or partner) programs with revenue-sharing.

These are very few examples of what I share in my book, "The Homeschoolers' Income Makeover!", along with tons of resources and strategies to help you start and grow a real income-producing business, eliminate your debt, and create multiple streams of income -- simultaneously.

Although written with the homeschooler in mind, anyone can employ nearly all of the strategies carefully laid out in the book and come out on top.

If you want household income to greatly improve and have less financial pressure, then implement all three steps listed above simultaneously, and you will soon find yourself way ahead of the financial pack in no time!

The Homeschoolers' Income Makeover!, Foreword by Paul & Sarah Edwards, The Self-Employment Experts, http://www.homeschool-wealth.com/