Take control of your financial mess and put your life on the track for wealth. Set aside a few hours when you can work uninterrupted and change your life from merely surviving payday-to-payday with emotional turmoil from bill collectors.

Here are some ideas to start taking control of your financial mess:

• Gather all of your financial paperwork. This will include all types of loans, credit card statements, your mortgage or rental payment book, utility bills, the checking account statements, and cash receipts for purchases.
  
• If you have any assets such as a savings account or stocks then put those in a separate pile from the debts. Also, collect your pay stubs and records of all other income.
  
• Get a printing calculator, notebook and pen. The printing calculator will speed things up because you won't loose track of which entries have been added.
• Start by going through your bank statements. Examine each check and each time that the debit card was used. Match the store receipts to the debit card charges and canceled checks. Go through each receipt and highlight unnecessary expenditures. Separate the receipts with unnecessary expenditures into their own pile.
• Go through the charge card statements and examine the details of each charge just as you did with the bank statements. Locate the receipts that had frivolous charges on them and add them to the existing pile.
• Gather the items that were purchased on those receipts and examine them to see if they can be returned to the store for a refund. Many stores have a very generous refund policy and will take returns up to half a year after purchase. Clip or tape the receipt to each item. Put items for the same store in one bag. Before you do anything else, take those packages to the car and return them to each store. Make sure that you have the original debit or credit card as it is necessary to get a refund. You do not need to give a reason for the return --- you simply no longer have a need for the item. This one act alone can reduce your debt by hundreds of dollars and possibly put some cash in your wallet. Knocking out frivolous spending is crucial if you want to take control of your financial mess.
  
• Examine your utility bills to see if they are in line with the average for your size home. Look for ways to reduce them such as caulking around windows or installing new shower heads. The electric bill can be immediately reduced by signing up for budget billing. Many electric utilities will add in the past due amount and that action will make you current on your account right away. There are links to hubs that address this area of cutting expenses at the end of this hub.
• If you have a new car loan, look at the payment stub to see how much is applied to the cost of the car and how much is applied to insurance. Go find cheaper insurance. Provide a copy of the policy to the loan company and have your monthly payment reduced accordingly.
• Go through all of your other loans to see where you can shave the amount of the monthly payment. Sometimes the so-called income protection insurance is just a waste of money because your state laws may already offer more protection.
• Now lets start with the printing calculator. Add up the amount of money that you spent last month. Include everything that is listed on a statement or on a receipt. Then add in purchases for which you may not have a receipt such as the vending machine at work, the church offering, or putting gas in the car. Compare this total with how much money you earned during the same time period. If you have spent more than what you have earned, then it is time to chop the budget to 90% of your paycheck.
• If there is a large disparity between your earnings and your expenses, then it is time to get a second job while paring the expenses.
• One way to start cutting the expenses is to personally visit the credit union in your neighborhood or place of work and ask for a consolidation loan. There will be origination fees and other expenses but credit unions are far less expensive than loan companies and banks. If the monthly payment for the consolidation loan will be significantly lower than all of the individual monthly payments to the charge card companies and other loan companies, then it could be a way to take control of your financial mess.
• After you have done all that is possible to lower your monthly expenses, write out a new budget for the month. Then divide that amount by the number of times that you are paid each month. For example, if your monthly expenses are $2200 and you are paid weekly, then the first $550 that you earn each week needs to go to your bills. Additional money needs to be set aside to build some savings. Whatever is left over is discretionary money. If nothing is left over, then it is time to get a second job until the debt load is smaller.
  

Even while you are paying the bills and trying to get your financial life in order, faithfully set aside a few dollars each payday for an emergency fund. This will prevent the vicious cycle of debt from repeating itself. There will be times that there will be an expensive car repair or an unexpected medical expense. With an emergency fund you will not need to reach for a credit card with a 30% interest rate or run around begging money from friends or relatives. You will have the dignity of being self-supporting as you pay cash for the bill.

Here are other hubs which may be of interest to you: