Lost In A “Money Fog”? How To Find Your Way Out

 Maybe you’ve experienced this before: You’re driving down the road one cold, chilly day and before you know it, you find yourself surrounded by a thick white wall of dense fog. How did you react?  If you’re like most people, perhaps you felt momentarily lost and confused or perhaps even panicked, not knowing what was in front of you or the direction you were going.  People who have lost control over their finances often feel the same way.  They’re lost in a “money fog”.
What exactly is a “money fog”?  Money fog means that you’re in a state of being disconnected from your money.  Here are some of the symptoms: (1) Having no idea about your real bank balance (2) Always broke at the end of the month no matter how hard you work (3) You’ve lost track of how much you owe (4) Chronic debt that just cannot be paid off, and (5) Zero savings- and yet, having a lot of expenses that cannot be accounted for or explained.
I meet with a lot of people who are in denial about their situation and will try to rationalize by saying things like: “Well, it’s really not that bad” or “It’s only money”. Clearing the fog can sometimes be an uncomfortable process because it involves looking honestly at the financial behaviors that contributed to our present financial crisis.  But unless we become aware of what we may be doing wrong, we may never get out of the fog.
Financial recovery cannot begin while your finances are cluttered, messy and disorganized. Start tracking your monthly expenses and create a monthly spending plan that allows you to live within your means. Spend some time working through an accurate picture of your total income after tax, your realistic expenses and current debt repayments. Then work through some ways of reducing unnecessary expenses and use the money you save towards debt repayment. If filing bankruptcy is your only solution to get out of debt, consult with an experienced attorney who can help you understand the pros and cons of such a solution.
If you need help in figuring out all your options to resolve debt, call my Valencia office at 1-866-477-7772 to schedule a free, confidential consultation.