Ever wondered if your financial life is a little off-kilter? How do you know if you could benefit from professional financial help? Here are 10 signs that things might be headed out of control:
- You pay your bills late.
- You use credit for things you used to pay for with cash, and you don't pay the bill in full each month.
- You fight about money with people you love.
- Paying debts makes it hard to pay for essentials like rent, food, and transportation.
- You get phone calls from creditors..
- You use payday loans.
- You aren't saving anything.
- Someone has taken legal action against you for finances: eviction, repossession, etc.
- Your tax refund is part of your financial plan..
- You transfer balances from one card to another without making any positive progress.
If any of these sound familiar, then you would certainly benefit from some professional advice. Fortunately, the military offers a variety of great ways to get help.
MilitaryOneSource offers confidential counseling services both in person and via the telephone.
Each branch of the service offers a personal financial management program (Army: ACS Financial Readiness Program, other services: Personal Financial Management Program) that can be accessed directly through your command or through your family support center.
Your command may have a person with special training to help with your financial issues, though I have found that the interest, skill, and commitment of people in the command level jobs varies dramatically.
If you've checked yes to any of these items, make a plan to reach out and get some help to make a positive change. Not only will you get your finances under control, but you'll also probably make the rest of your life a little easier. Money trouble impacts so many other areas of your life, that fixing financial troubles can fix many of the other things that are going on at the same time.
