Categorized | Retail/Consumer

I Blew it Financially – Tips for Getting Back on Track and Correcting Mistakes

Welcome once again to our Young Adults Perspectives series. In our last post, we discussed the idea of creating a personal finance checklist to help get a better understanding of your financial picture. This week, we will discuss what happens when all your hard work doesn’t lead to success. Despite all the time you might have put into working and managing your finances, life sometimes gets in the way which makes it difficult to stay on track financially. Circumstances beyond your control, or maybe even financial mistakes, may have caught you unaware, and suddenly you’ve gone from a budget that’s in the black to one that’s in the red. When you feel like you’ve blown it financially, it may seem like financial independence is escaping you. But making a mistake is not the same as failing. When life knocks you down, it’s always possible to get back up and keep moving forward.

Here are some tips for getting back on track financially

Make
Sacrifices

Giving up things you love doing or having is neither ideal nor easy. But for some people, it’s the best method to getting back on track financially. There are multiple ways to do this. You can dip into your emergency savings funds, you can put off any big purchases you’ve been planning, or you can go back to your budget and make changes there. Cutting out too much fun can be a killer to motivation, however, so in choosing between these options, it’s important to decide if you prefer smaller, more frequent rewards that align with your current spending practices or grander, less frequent ones that will lead to more noticeable changes.

Asking
For Help

It can be scary telling your friends and family that you’ve made a financial mistake. Even if your financial woes aren’t entirely your fault, they are still your burden to bear. The truth is that people will understand when you come to them for help. Even if they haven’t experienced a financial setback, they are to still be sympathetic. Going to someone for help doesn’t mean you need to ask them for a handout either. Perhaps they can offer you a personal loan or some helpful advice to get you started.

Using
Financial Tools

If going to your friends and family isn’t comfortable, then perhaps you could benefit from the advice of a professional. There are multiple businesses in the financial industry that exist solely to help people with getting back on track financially. There are credit counselors, loans, debt management plans, and many other options to help you solve your financial issues. If you’re looking for a loan, the big names like Lending Tree or OneMain Financial are good choices; sometimes, however, some of the smaller places like Community Loan Center can help you the best if they operate in your region. Trying to refinance some earlier loans? Use this article from NerdWallet to help you find the best choice based on your needs. These solutions offer great help in getting back on track financially, but they come with a catch: interest rates can make repaying a loan more difficult and keep you in the debt cycle. Fortunately, debt management plans can actually reduce the amount of money you owe. These plans work by consolidating your debts into one plan, and paying them all back simultaneously for a low monthly rate, without any sort of interest rate.

Whichever method you choose to make a financial comeback, know that there are always people and resources available to help make the process easier. Consumer Education Services, Inc. (CESI) is a non-profit committed to empowering and inspiring consumers nationwide to make wise financial decisions and live debt free. Speak with a certified counselor for a free debt analysis today.


 
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This article was syndicated and originally appeared on the CESI Debt Solutions website.

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