About Chris G. Expertise I am a financial counselor that can answer consumers' personal finance questions in following areas: - Beating & Reducing Debt - Budgeting - Building Savings - Careers & Extra Jobs - Dealing with Collectors - Identity Theft - Money & Marriage - Personal Insurance.
Experience The past four years in the banking field have given me a heart for helping families with their finances to better their financial future.
Question Well, Im 26 and work 2 jobs. I make about $2200 p/month and I cant seem to manage my money AT ALL. I constantly over spend. I've tried writing down everything I spend but I somehow I always mis-calculate and over spend my income.
Im tired of this cycle and wanted to see if you can offer advise. I've never balanced a check book, I dont even use checks that often.
I also have about $6000 credit card debt, some hospital debt and a student loan I never used :( I feel incredibly irresponsible and I feel even worse for my husband who just sits back and watches me do this every time.
Do you have some tips to help me get back on track and stay on track? Im so far behind right now it seems impossible....
Thank you!
Answer Hey Rebecca,
Thanks for the email. It sounds like times are rough in your world but don't worry there is hope. You aren't alone when you say that you can't manage your money. It frustrates me that for us to graduate from high school today, we have to be able to learn to do calculus, but we don't have to learn how to balance a checkbook.
A good first step would be to start balancing that checkbook. If you have a checking account, write down your transactions and keep track of your balance. Then, each time you get your statement, use the form provided on the back of it to make sure that your balance is the same as the banks.
The second step would be to write up a good financial plan BEFORE getting paid. Decide how much your going to spend on each thing before payday. Using the "envelope system" would help you from overspending. To do this, label some envelopes with the different categories of your budget such as food, clothing, entertainment, etc. These would be categories that you don't write a check to pay (or pay online.) Then put the amount of cash into each envelope that you budgeted for that category. This will help you to stay on budget and keep from spending money on new shoes that should have been used for groceries :).
Another thing that I would recommend is that you sit down and talk to your husband about what you just told me (that you feel irresponsible.) Tell him that you need his help to stay on track and that you want to do better with money, but the two of you are going to need to work together. After all, two heads are better than one.
I hope that helps you a little bit Rebecca. I hope things get better for you. Let me know if I can help you in the future.
