If you are facing financial stress right now, you are not alone. According to a recent Ramsey Solutions study, 34% of survey respondents indicated that they were either facing financial struggles or were actively in crisis. That’s a huge percentage of people — more than one-third of all respondents — who are not feeling good about their personal finances.
If you are one of those people, there are some options out there that could help you to get a better sense of control and get into a better place with your money. Here are some steps that you can take to try to get back on track.
Take advantage of the help that’s available
If you are in the midst of a financial crisis, you may need some help to get out of it. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, as plenty of state and federal programs were created for just that reason.
Depending on your situation, you may be eligible to get help paying for food, housing, or medical insurance. You can use the Benefit Finder on USA.gov. Don’t forget to check with your state’s Social Service agency to explore programs available to you. Many of these programs are means-tested, so be prepared with paperwork like pay stubs or tax returns when you’re trying to figure out what to qualify for.
Taking advantage of this assistance — even on a temporary basis — may give you the breathing room to make long-term positive changes that leave you with more money in your bank account.
Do something about your debt
If you are struggling, there’s a good chance you have debt that’s making your situation worse. After all, if you’ve committed future income to cover yesterday’s expenses, it’s going to be harder to make ends meet.
When you’re in this situation, look into whether you can lower monthly payments and total repayment costs. Refinancing using a personal loan may be a good option if you have high-interest debt. This would involve getting a personal loan at a lower rate and using it to pay off existing creditors. Using a credit card balance transfer could be another option, as you can transfer the balance from current cards to a new card at 0% interest so you can make better progress on repayment. Note that you will need to have a fairly strong credit score to qualify for these options. And you should have a plan for repaying the debt while the 0% rate applies, as it will only be temporary.
You can also talk with your lenders about what they may be able to do for you, especially if you worry you won’t be able to pay the bills. Often, they’ll be willing to work out a payment plan for you if they fear not getting paid at all. You may want to ask, however, if the plan they work out will have an impact on your credit score. You may move forward with doing it anyway, but be aware this could make things harder in the long run if you hurt your credit.
Increase your income
Finding a way to earn a little more could go a very long way toward reducing your financial worries. And there are a ton of side gigs out there you could try out. The average earnings from side hustles come in at $483 per month, which is a good amount of money you could use to try to catch up on bills or pay down debt so you can eliminate some of your monthly obligations.
Think about what you’re interested in and where your talents are. Could you walk dogs or baby sit or drive for a ride-hailing service or provide tutoring? There are apps and websites aplenty where you can connect with people that may be interested in hiring you for these tasks.
Reduce your fixed spending
Finally, you could try to reduce one of your fixed costs. This is a big, ongoing cost that you can take action once to reduce and that will make a long-term positive impact. For example, you could sell your expensive car (with the high car payment) and opt for a cheaper one and pocket the extra cash.
Making one big lifestyle shift like this can be a lot less stressful and a lot easier to maintain, so it could really help your financial struggles to lessen.
By taking any or all of these steps, perhaps you can get some financial relief so you can move out of the personal finance crisis and stress phase and start making solid progress toward a brighter future.
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