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.
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.
