If you are worrying about your money problems it's time to STOP
IT NOW! Easier said than done, huh.
In my 25 to 30 years working with personal money management
problems I have never seen worry help solve the problem. In
fact it has just the opposite effect.
Worry clouds your judgment. You have certain actions that
you need to take to get your problems solved and you will need
a clear head to make the necessary decisions.
In some cases the worry leads to desperation and is used as
an excuse not to face the problem.
Let me say this in explicit terms "No one dies of starvation
or goes to jail because they can't pay their bills in this
country". I understand that there have been people starve to
death in the US but that was more than likely an extreme
situation. Also, if there is anyone that goes to jail because
of their debts you can bet there was fraud involved.
Even if you don't have any income at all there are places to
turn. Worrying is not going to make things happen.
The best thing you can do to get started solving your money
problems, after you stop worrying about it, is to access your
situation. You have to look at it as if you are an outsider
looking in.
Find out exactly what the problem is. This is easier than
you think. Here are a few of the most common problems that
are causing your worries:
Credit Card Debt
Medical Bills
Impulse Spending
Mortgage Payment or Rent too high
Absence of a Budget
Unorganized Bills and Files
Late Payments & Fees
Overdraft Fees
Not Prioritizing Spending
If you have your spending set up by category it won't take
long to see where the problem is. Here is an example:
Recommended Percentage of your take-home pay for Housing,
Other Bills and Household Expenses should be around 30% each
with the remaining 10% going toward your long and short term
savings. To find out more about these percentages and how to
setup an easy to use budget visit:
http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html
If one category exceeds the 30% by very much that is part of
the problem. This is the area where you need to concentrate
your efforts.
You can approach this in two different ways. The first method
is to cut your spending in the category that you have determined
to be the problem. The second is to cut spending or expenses
in other categories to make up the difference.
I recommend that you be careful about cutting your Household
Expenses too much. While you can cut your grocery bill and
some other areas, you will need a certain amount of money to run
your household.
No matter what your current money situation you can find help on
the internet free. Be careful not to fall into the many scams
that are currently all over the web. To get you started you can
visit the Budget Stretcher Partner Sites below:
TheFrugalShopper.com
http://www.thefrugalshopper.com
BetterBudgeting.com
http://www.betterbudgeting.com
The Stay-at-Home Parents Page
http://www.geocities.com/sahmlomano/index2.html
Debt Smart
http://www.DebtSmart.com
Greedy Fools.com
http://www.greedyfools.com
Brighter Futures
http://www.brighterfutures.com
Freebie Haven
http://www.121fun.com
FreelanceByU
http://www.Freelancebyu.com
MoneyMakingMommy.com
http://www.moneymakingmommy.com
Tidbits from the Pantry
http://www.humansrv.net
Usave2day.com
http://www.usave2day.com
As with any other type of problem you are not going to solve
your money problems by worrying about them. It takes action.
The sooner you get started the better.
About the Author
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy
Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor
of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher
web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of
experience counseling individuals and families concerning their
personal finances.