Writing online content, including how-to articles for sites like eHow.com, is helping my family survive the economic downturn affecting so many Americans. What started out as a couple hundred dollars of extra money has snowballed into our mortgage payment and gas & grocery money. My name is Maria, and I am a stay at home mom of three pre-school-aged kids.My husband, John, runs a construction company with his brother and friend, but 2008 was a very tight year, and now they have no new contracts on the horizon. There is more competition for fewer and fewer jobs. When things first started geting tight as John's income decreased, I began writing articles online in an attempt to help make ends meet. Now, my eHow articles (I'm WriterGig on eHow) earn over $1,000 a month and my sales of my ebook guide, How to Earn Passive Income on eHow.com, at http://residualincomeweb.com/ehowebook.html is also helping to pay the bills and keeping us from resorting to credit cards to get by. John is switching career fields -- into insurance adjusting -- and once he begins earning, 2009 will be the year we get out of debt and, I hope, earn more than we have in previous years. In our case, the economic downturn inspired us to diversify our income and work harder to increase it, even if it meant getting up at 5 am to write while the kids sleep (me) or switching fields (John). If your family is experiencing tough economic times in this recession, I encourage you to be creative, look for extra income opportunities and work harder than ever to be successful.