"Here are some moves families can make during the next few months to boost savings in the right accounts and ease the financial-aid process," Wall Street Journal reports. "First, schedule a basic financial check-up. Tally your income, expenses and savings, and identify where you can cut back—delay vacations or home renovations, for example. (One thing that's off-limits: retirement fund contributions.) Financial aid insiders recommend that parents do the math with their children, to keep everyone's expectations in check. "It's important for parents to have realistic discussions about what they can afford," says Justin Draeger of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. This way, kids won't fixate on out-of-reach and out-of-budget schools."