With the economy still in the dumps, many families are struggling to make ends meet never mind pay off debt. But if you’re trying to get out of debt and aren’t sure of the most efficient way to do it, visit the Snowball Calculator.

The Snowball Calculator is designed to figure out the least expensive way for you to pay off your debt. Just fill in the form with the loan information on each loan, how much money you have to put towards debt payment, and click the “Calculate” button.  You’ll get instructions on how much to send to each lender every month and how many months it will take to pay off the debts.

To calculate your debt repayment or to learn more, visit the Snowball Calculator.

Whether you’re online for work or play, you absolutely cannot go without anti-virus protection. Without it you’re not only at risk to ruin your computer, but your passwords and identity can also be compromised.

There are a host of full-service protection software out on the market and you’d likely do well to invest in one. But if you don’t have the cash on hand, a good basic protection is offered for free by AVG Technologies. AVG Free offers protection against viruses, spyware, adware, and Identity theft. Plus it has a click safe feature so you can click on search results safely.

While I have TrendMicro’s Internet Security and Virus protection on my work machine, I have been running AVG Free on my Asus which I use for writing and internet browsing when I’m away from home. The software is a reasonable size (meaning not too big), easy to install and use.  According to the site, its the most downloaded software at CNET with over 80 million users.

There are upgraded options as well that offer greater security from spam, unsafe downloads and instant messaging threats.

To learn more about AVG Free or AVG’s other products, visit its site at AVG Technologies.

Screen capture is a helpful tool in business and education. The difficulty is finding a quality, AFFORDABLE screen capture software. One option is Jing, which provides a free and low cost option for screen capture video. However Screencast-O-Matic offers one-click recording from your Windows, Mac or Linux browser. The free version provides 15 minutes of video (Jing only offers 5 even in the paid version), hosting, YouTube upload, and exporting in MP4, FLV or AVI. For $9 per year (Jing is $15/yr), you can have the watermark removed, password protect screencasts, ability to screencast outside the browser and editing tools.

If you’re creating lots of videos and need a full range of tools, Camtasia may be your best bet, but at $299 it’s pricey. For the individual or small business owner with few screencapture needs, Screencast-O-Matic offers all the basics for an affordable price.

To learn more, visit Screencast-O-Matic.

Better Living on the Web does NOT receive any compensation from Screencast-O-Matic.

Need help keeping all your account organized, understanding your money, and tips to better money management? Mint.com offers a free online budget service that will help you set up and track your budget based on  your monthly spending. It can also email you your current balances, suggestions for changes you may want to make in your budget, and bill reminders.

To learn more, visit Mint.com.

Its an odd fact of life that we’re more likely to do something we don’t like to help someone else, than to do it for ourselves. If you’re that type of person, the Plus3Network.com is for you. The site connects sponsors who will pay the charity of your choice for each mile that you bike, run, walk, or many other physical activities. Simply choose your cause (many to choose from including Breast Cancer Research, Project Rwanda, and The Environmental Defense Fund), log in your miles, and your charity is paid through sponsors.

You can help raise even more money by inviting your friends to join and organizing teams and/or events.

The best part is that each time your exercise, you aren’t only improving your health, but you’re helping to raise money for a worthy cause. Learn more at Plus3Network.com.

Lifehacker posted a list of software commonly found on PC’s that slow things down, use too much space, and often don’t offer full-use rights resulting in nagging “purchase now” reminders.  For each of these  “crappy” pieces of software, Lifehacker provides alternative software options, most of which are free and that can do the job better. The list of “crapware” includes Adobe Reader, iTunes, AOL and MSN Messenger services, and McAffe, Norton, and Symantec Anti Virus among others.

Check out Crapware: Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software to learn more.

For over two years I’ve been doing a weekly podcast at Work-At-Home Success. I’d avoided podcasting for a while because the set-up to record the call was tedious and not always reliable. I had to use an old laptop, because my newer one didn’t work right with the equipment I had. I had to hook up my phone to the computer’s recorder through a little Radio Shack device. Using Windows Movie Maker to capture the recording, I’d then need to convert it from WMV to MP3, transfer it to my new machine and edit. Fortunately, Skype and Pamela have changed all that.

Skype allows me to call via my computer to anyone anywhere. Its free to other Skype users and just a few cents a minutes to call landlines. Pamela records the call and saves as MP3. All I need to do once the call is over is edit and upload. No converting or transferring. No extra devices…just my headset and computer.

Pamela features include:

• Skype Call Recording
• Skype Video Recording
• Skype Chat Recording
• Skype Call Transfer
• Rich Mood Editor
• Answering Machine
• VideoMail
• Mega Emotion Sounds
• Auto Chat Reply
• Birthday Reminders
• Email Forwarding
• Contact Personalization
• Auto Start Applications
• Skype Publishing
• And more.

Pamela has a free version with a time limit of 15 minutes of recording and a few other limitations. It also has standard, professional and business versions for a fee. I opted for the Professional version which has a 30 day trial and is $38.95 if you want to keep it (there are less expensive options as well). It includes unlimited recording and all the other features such as blogging and podcasting.

Visit Pamela Systems to learn more!

It’s happened to everyone. You’re typing information into a web form, you hit submit, but something goes wrong. Hitting the back button takes you to the submission page, but all your information is gone. Firefox users can now avoid this annoying disaster through Lazarus. Lazarus saves information as you type. If something goes wrong, you can recover the data simply by returning to the submission page, right clicking your mouse, and selecting the option to recover the information.

Lazarus 2.1 works with Firefox. Lazarus 3.0 is in beta (meaning there are a few bugs) and includes Chrome and Safari browsers.

To learn more or add it to your browser, visit Lazarus

Its easier and easier to find places to work no matter where you go. Locations like Panera Bread and Barnes and Noble offer free wi-fi and in a bind you can get access at Starbucks if you’re a reward card member. But occasionally I still get stuck without wi-fi or at least free wi-fi. There are many online resources you can use to find free wi-fi and all seem to yield different results. None of the few I tried were able to find the free spots where I live. I know I have at least 2, but my area is rural so maybe its not worth listing on the map. Here’s a few resources you can try if you need free wi-fi:

Hotspotr can search using your address and will provide other nearby city options on a Google Map.

Jiwire can search worldwide although Paris wasn’t on the France list and I don’t remember enough about France to know what region its in. When searching my local area, it had a few options that didn’t come up on Hotspotr but was also missing a few that had been on Hotspotr. It provides results on a list with an option to click on a map for specific locations.

OpenWiFiSpot at first had no options when I searched the larger city near me. But then there was a list of other options that included the zip code I initially searched with. Clicking on that I got a list with some of the same options offered on Hotspotr and Jiwire. It gives an option to get results by list or on a map.

If you run a small business, keeping your receipts organized and accessible helps make tax time easier. If you run a business or freelance in which you need to pay estimated tax payments four times a year, you may want to check out Shoeboxed.com, where you can mail-in or upload your receipts to organize them and get rid of clutter. The information can then be transferred to programs such as Excel, Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Evernote, Quicken, and CSV formats. If you scan and upload your receipts yourself, the service is free. Or you can mail your receipts and Shoeboxed will scan them for you. You can even scan and upload using your phone. Fees for expanded services depend on how many receipts a month you upload. There is even an option to upload business cards.

To learn more or get started for free, visit ShoeBoxed.com. Also check out ShoeBoxed’s blog for great articles on personal finance, taxes and more.