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Once you are sure you have enough to eat and a roof over your head you can start thinking about your other bills. The secured loans, like your car payment, should come before your unsecured loans, like your credit cards.
The reason for this is simple. Creditors that have secured property will sue or repossess much quicker than
credit card companies.
If you find yourself in this situation it is a sign that you need to do something drastic and fast. By not paying all of your bills each month they are going to add up quickly and you are going to accumulate a lot of late fees.
The best place to start is to find out exactly where you stand and what is causing problem. This is as simple as listing your income on one side of a piece of paper and your bills on other. Total each and subtract your bills from your income.
Your next step is to develop a budget. You can find a free and simple budget by visiting The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html
Whether you use my budget system or another it is very important that you start one as soon as possible. For those of you that believe a budget is to restrictive, just opposite is true. The only way you can get what you want and know you can afford it is to have a budget in place.
It is important that you pay all of your bills on time each month. When you don't have money to pay everything it is vital to your survival that you pay most important bills first.
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of experience counseling individuals and families concerning their personal finances.
