The only way to avoid long term debt problems is to have a solid personal financial plan in place and being disciplined to follow the plan. It's important to address both sides of the fiscal equation: spending and income.

Many people don't understand why they fail to make ends-meet on a consistent basis. Before you can make a financial plan, you need to have a strong grasp on how you actually spend money. The easiest thing to do is make a spreadsheet of your expenditures as they happen. At the end of each day, write down all the expenses for the day.

The next step is to take a hard look at all of your expenses and try to cut them. Determine if expenses are really necessary or more of a luxury. Some ideas:

To gain real control over the management of your money, you must create . Use a spreadsheet. Start with your income (be sure to include all sources). Next, break your expenses into categories (housing costs, utilities, food, transportation, entertainment, etc.). Set goals for your spending amounts. Finally, always make sure that you have a balanced budget. If not, go back to your expenses and think about ways to cut them.

The key to successfully using a budget is to set goals and measure yourself against. Try to do this on a weekly basis at first then move to a monthly basis when you're having success.

Using your credit cards to make purchases creates two problems. First, you may not see the charge for several weeks after it is made (until you receive your statement) - thus making it more difficult to track your spending. Second, if you fall behind on paying back your credit card debt, the interest rates are extremely high. Additionally, having credit cards can lead to more impulse purchases.

You never know when a financial emergency will arise. Plus, it's difficult to have all potential spending contingencies built into you budget. You never want to be unprepared when an unexpected bill arrives. Therefore, we'd suggest putting away 5-10% of your paycheck into an emergency fund.

It's always smart to think about the income side of the equation as well. The obvious ideas are to get a second job and change jobs to something that pays more.

When looking for a second job, think about the impact that it will have on your primary job and family. If it seems possible, take a look at a local paper or job website for part-time work. There may be many options for working over the weekend that could be fun and profitable.

Be careful about changing your primary job, you'll become the "new guy" and may have less job security. However, it's never a bad idea to keep your eyes peeled for good opportunities.

Please note: This website is designed to provide you with information about debt problems. However, this information should not be relied upon. The information does not constitute professional or legal advice. We also cannot take responsibility for content on sites that are linked to from our pages. Always obtain proper legal and other professional advice before undertaking any significant action.