If you can't seem to get control of this on your own, consider contacting a free credit counseling service. You can find Consumer Credit Counseling Service at www.credit.org. They can make arrangements for you to pay them a set amount each month to be distributed to your bill collectors.

Find A Way

The fact is that you need to get your finances in order, if for no other reason than your sanity. You can do one of two things to help with problem. Increase your income or decrease your spending. While there are several ways to increase your income, they don't necessarily help. Let's take example of getting a second job. You have extra expenses such as transportation, extra taxes, food, etc. that will cut deep into what you make.

Your best bet is to decrease your spending. You can start by visiting my web site, The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. When you subscribe, you will find links to several hundred sites that provide ways to cut your spending. Here is a list of other sites that can help:

TheFrugalShopper.com http://www.thefrugalshopper.com GreedyFools.com http://www.savingadvice.com BetterBudgeting.com http://betterbudgeting.com Debt Smart http://www.DebtSmart.com Freebie Haven http://www.121fun.com The Stay-At-Home Parents Page http://www.thestayathomeparentspage.com Brighter Futures http://www.brighterfutures.com FreelanceByU http://www.freelancebyu.com Tidbits from Pantry Usave2day.com http://www.usave2day.com MoneyMakingMommy.com http://www.moneymakingmommy.com You Save On Taxes.com http://hop.clickbank.net/?terryrigg/wmdctp

I have chosen these sites because all of information is free. I can almost guarantee that these sites will have what you need.

Get on Track

After you have looked into all of above, it is time for a budget. The last thing you need is a budget that takes most of your time just to manage. I have developed a simple, easy to use budget system that will take very little of your time. It will also help organize your bill paying. You can find The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html. This organizer is free. Whether you use my budget or someone elses, you must establish a budget and stick to it.

If you are reading this article, chances are you have a computer. Use it to find other ideas to help you manage your money. Try searching key words like: money saving, budget help and credit help.

The Other Guys Taxes - What do you mean "The Other Guys Taxes"? He can pay his own. For each item you buy, manufacturers and distributors have expenses like cost of production, packaging, shipping, etc. They also have to pay taxes. Who do you think actually winds up paying these expenses? If you buy it, you do. I have seen estimates that between 20% and 25% of cost of most items is for taxes that they have to pay. To make a profit, all companies must pass all expenses they have along to consumer.

Gas Tax - With federal gasoline taxes over 18 cents per gallon and state gasoline taxes as high as 35 cents per gallon it isn't hard to see that, with price of gas currently under a dollar in most places, over half of cost of your gas could be going for taxes.

Self Employment Taxes - This is simply way a self employed person pays their Social Security and Medicare. They are required to pay 15.3% of their gross income to cover these expenses. These are people that really know how much taxes they pay. This is because they are required to write a check for them four times a year and, if they underpaid throughout year, they may have to write another check on April 15th.

When you look at your budget and wonder where all of your money is going, you may want to consider what you are paying in taxes. There are taxpayers in this country that are paying over 50% of their income in one tax or another.

Here are links to a couple of other articles I've written on taxes:

I Love That Big Tax Refund http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/taxrefund.html A 23% Federal Sales Tax!! But Wait! http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/fedsalestax.html

I'm not trying to make a political statement here. I just believe that everybody should be aware of where their money goes. If you take a few minutes to think about it, I think you will realize that a good percentage goes to federal, state and local governments.