Are you living off your credit card? If so, you're not alone. One of every three households reports using credit cards to cover such basic living expenses as paying their rent, mortgage, utilities and grocery bills.

Most identify the lack of savings as the major reason for using credit to cover these expenses.

Saving money may seem impossible, but a Moore Cooperative Extension Center money management expert is ready to help you start during the North Carolina Saves Week campaign, Feb. 24-March 2.

During the week, residents across the state are being encouraged to enroll as NCSavers and take steps to set a savings goal.

Individuals who enroll will receive the American Saver newsletter that provide savings tips and motivation stories that help keep you pumped up to save. Enrollees will also have their names placed in a drawing for saving bonds.

NCSaves is one of 53 campaigns affiliated with America Saves, the national campaign that encourages people to save money, reduce debt and build wealth. More than 3,000 savers have signed up to take part in the NCSaves. Families enrolled have found that getting out of debt also means getting more out of life.

Statewide sponsors of the program include the N.C. Individual Development Accounts Collaborative, the United Way of North Carolina, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Office of the State Treasurer Richard Moore, N.C. Bankers Association, EITC Carolinas, FDIC and the United Way of North Carolina.

Cooperative Extension has money-management tools to help savers keep their commitment, including a simple, user-friendly worksheet, called the H-Plan; the money tracker that helps keep track of spending; and the debt reduction computer software, "PowerPay," that provides a plan that helps users pay down debt and free money for saving.

Anyone interested in signing up to save or who wants to learn more about tools that can help should contact Agnes R. Evans at 947-3188 or by e-mail at agnes_evans @ncsu.edu.