There may come a point in your financial life when you are barely making ends meet. You are quite literally living paycheck to paycheck and possibly charging the difference and watching your credit card balance go. You do not know what to do or how to change the situation, but you know that you can’t go on this way. Here are five things to consider in this situation.
1) Can you cut anything else out of your budget? Generally the answer is yes. You can cut your food bill down. You can cut out cable or trips to the store. You can save on gas money by staying home more often. You may need to cut out extracurricular activities for your children or look for inexpensive alternatives.
2) Avoid taking out a payday loan or other high interest loan to make ends meet. Also debt consolidation is not usually a good solution. You may temporarily solve the problem, but unless you change your habits, lifestyle and income you will end up right back in the situation.
3) What can you do to earn more money? There are several things that you can do. You can sell items to make money quickly. You may also consider getting a short term second job until you can solve either your budget or long term income situation. You may need to change career paths or go back to school to change your situation.
4) You may need to cut back on major expense in your life. Your problems may be as a result of buying a home or a car that you really cannot afford. If this is the case you should try to sell the items to get your financial situation back under control.
5) Remember how you are feeling now and promise yourself that you will not get into this situation again. As things improve save an emergency fund so that you can cover the tough times. Make a commitment to spend less than you make and then do it.
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