Learn to simplify.
If your finances aren’t in order, chances are other facets of your life are in disarray as well. If you learn to simplify your life, you will have less stress and things will fall in to place.
Gather your bills, and list all of your outstanding debt. Make a complete list of ‘have to’s…. rent/mortgage, utilities, food, medical, car insurance, etc. Anything other than the ‘have to’s will have to get cut back or get cut out of your budget completely. Until your finances are on track, meaning spending less, getting rid of debt, and saving.
Add all the figures in the ‘have to’ column, and that is now your working budget. Any income over that should be put to pay down your outstanding debt. Once that is done, the figure you were using to pay down the debt should be put to your savings.
Until you have a handle on how to save, and have at least $1,000. in an emergency fund, any incidentals are out.
Paying down your debt, and seeing this happen should be a good feeling for you. Being debt free is awesome. And, having an emergency fund….used only for that, such as a plumbing issue, new tires, a dental emergency etc. is also a good feeling and it takes some of the stress at that time out of your life, because you’ll know you have the money set aside for the emergency.
Once the emergency fund is set aside, open another account for 6-12 months of your income. It sounds daunting, but it is doable. The reason you need this is just in case you are out of work for a while without an income, or should you lose your job. Having this money set aside will allow you to live financially unaffected while you look for work or recover from a medical issue. In either case, you’ll have enough stress without worrying about how to pay for the roof overhead and feed yourself and family.
This does take discipline, but once you begin and then see your outstanding debt getting less and less, and your savings growing each paycheck, then you will become determined to do this.
It is after all a gift to yourself. And it is doable.