There is little as frightening as feeling financially strapped and not knowing what to do about it. Unfortunately, most people do experience financial insecurity at some point in their lives. Use that time period as a learning experience in how to better manage your money, and once you do gain control of your finances, you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment and power.

Develop a Budget
Several months prior to starting a budget, start tracking your expenses. Yes, every penny. Use a spreadsheet, and separate your expenses into different categories. Category examples include: groceries, gas, utilities, mortgage, other loan payments (such as vehicle), insurance, entertainment, and dining out. By the end of those two or three months, you should have a good idea where you’re spending too much of your income, and where you need to cut back. Many of your budget expenses will be fixed items. You can’t change the amount of your mortgage, insurance, and car payments as easily as you can cut back on how much you’re spending on movie rentals and restaurants.

Take the amount of your budget you do allocate to discretionary spending out in cash, and divvy it among your family members. Let them know this is all the money they can spend on play items for the week or month. If necessary, take away debit and credit cards until you get the budget under control.

Pay Off Debt
Paying off debt is one of the best things you can do to take control of your finances, and it’s often the goal when setting a budget.

Start by making a list of all your debts, how much you owe on each, and the annual percentage rate. Find a program, such as Microsoft Office, that will run an amortization schedule for you. To run an amortization schedule, you simply plug in the numbers above, along with the term of the loan and the payment start date. If the loan is a credit card, try using different pay-back options. Start with a short-term pay-back, such as 1-3 years, and increase from there if absolutely necessary. The amortization will tell you how much you need to pay each month in order to pay off your loan within a certain time-frame. Budget those amounts each month, and watch your debt disappear.

Tip: Pay off your bad debt first. Credit cards are bad debt. A mortgage is a good debt.

Tip: Pay off credit cards with the highest interest rate first.

Qualification vs. Affordability
Once you pay off your debt, try to stay out of debt. If you do take on a new loan, however, remember that the amount you qualify for doesn’t represent the amount you can comfortably afford. Credit card companies, banks, and other loan officers, don’t usually take into account what you pay out each month for utilities, gas, food, entertainment, and the like. Do the math yourself, and if you can’t afford it, don’t try to afford it.

Start an Emergency Fund
It’s hard, if not impossible, to save while you’re in debt. After you’ve paid-off your bad debt, start an emergency fund with the money you were putting toward those loans. If you can, have your employer directly deposit your pay check in your bank, and authorize your bank to take a certain amount or percentage of your pay check and put it in a savings account. Don’t withdraw from this savings account unless it’s an emergency! Once you’ve accumulated enough in your emergency fund—it’s recommended you have 6-8 months of living expenses—you can use the excess money for something special, or invest it in other ways.

Insurance Plans
Having adequate insurance can often keep you out of debt. Many people facing bankruptcy are doing so because of exceptional medical expenses they incurred because they didn’t have health insurance. Look into different plans and try to find one that will fit your budget. Also, consider acquiring life insurance and disability insurance if you work in a profession, such as construction, where you need to be able-bodied and physically fit.

Saving for Retirement
If your employer doesn’t have a retirement plan, a good way to start one is to open a Roth IRA account with any tax refund you’re getting. Visit IRS.gov for more information on the tax benefits of doing so.

If your employer does offer a 401 K or other retirement plan, try to contribute the max allowable. It’s tax-free, and a great way to stash money for the future because it comes directly out of your pay check.

In lieu of the recent stock market and greater economic woes, a good rule of thumb to remember is: diversify! Don’t put all of your retirement money in one place, and if you’re set to retire within 5-7 years, make sure your investments are out of common stocks and in a safer fund.

Tip: If you’re faced with saving for retirement vs. saving for a child’s college education, save for retirement. There are many scholarship and loan programs available for college.

How-to Send a Free Email to Any Cell Phone
All you need is the carrier’s SMS Gateway number, and you can send free emails to any cell phone.

“How to Send Email to Any Cell Phone (For Free)”
via Make Use Of

Natural Ways to Boost Your Energy
If you’re constantly exhausted, pay attention. These natural ways to boost energy will also make you look years younger.

“Natural Ways to Boost Energy… and Feel 10 Years Younger”
via Bottom Line Secrets

Get More, or Less, Caffeine From Your Coffee
What determines the amount of caffeine in your cup of coffee? Probably not what you think. Read this article to find out.

“Appreciating Coffee Like Wine”
via The Atlantic

Unnecessary Upgrades You Over Spend On
Are the upgrades you’re paying good money for worth it? Read this cost-benefit analysis and decide for yourself.

“Unnecessary Upgrades: A Cost-Benefit Analysis”
via Bill Shrink

Ways to Save Money on Health Insurance
If you’re one of the millions whose employer doesn’t provide health insurance, this article will help you find ways to make purchasing your own more affordable.

“How to Save Money on Health Insurance”
via Five Cent Nickel

Work is often the one aspect of life that people feel they have no control over. To an extent, this may be true, but still, going to work every day is a choice. Of course, if you don’t go to work, you won’t get paid, which means you will have a hard time paying your bills, but you do have that choice, don’t you? You decide whether or not you want to work hard to put food on the table, a car in the garage, and perhaps save for a family vacation. Depending on what is important to you, you may decide you’d rather work part-time and live more humbly. It’s your choice. You are in control of your life. That’s not to say there aren’t constraints. There are. The work available to you is dependent on your education, skill sets, and availability. But only you can seek out the work you want. Only you can get the education and skills required for a certain job. It’s up to you. The first step? Deciding on a career choice.

What Do You Want to be When You “Grow Up”?
Deciding what to do for work is often the most challenging aspect of adulthood. Depending on your skills and education, you may have a plethora of options available to you, or only a few. Evaluate these options and think about what line of work would give you the lifestyle you want, the level of income you seek, and above all, what you would most enjoy doing. As you get older, your priorities and your career options may change. Don’t be afraid to reevaluate your career decisions when the time arises.

Balance
Just like eating a balanced diet leads to a healthy body, balancing work and play leads to a healthy mind. Working too much leads to burn-out, and burned-out people aren’t productive or happy. Every person is different, so make sure the job you’re in allows you the free time you need to maintain a healthy balance. If it doesn’t, is another job available to you that might?

The Happiness Test
You won’t always love your job, but if you hate it more often than you enjoy it, you may need to rethink your situation. Work—no matter if it’s replacing a furnace or litigating a successful case—should give you some amount of satisfaction.

Learn to Manage Your Time
If you’re constantly running around at work but never getting anything done, you need to stop, sit down, and learn to manage your time. Make lists, set schedules, delegate, and get yourself organized. Some people find it helpful to start each day by making a list of items that need to be completed in order of priority. It’s satisfying to be able to check items off your list, and visually see the progress you’ve made.

Get the Hard Stuff Done First
Often, your brain is freshest first thing in the morning. If you complete the hardest tasks of the day first, you will do so with more vigor and alertness. Who wants to struggle with a difficult assignment an hour before closing, when all you can think about is getting home and putting your feet up?

Eat
Food isn’t only fuel for the body, it’s fuel for the brain. Eat a healthy breakfast, and eat during your breaks.

Ask
Feel you deserve a raise? Need a vacation? Want longer or shorter hours? Want an office away from the chaos? Your boss can’t read your mind. Ask him or her. What’s the worst he or she can say? No? Then you’re no worse off than you were before, and you can then decide if where you work is worth it. If your wish is granted, all the better. Either way, you know where you stand, and you’re on your way toward taking control of your working life.

Read “How to Take Control of Your Life: At Home” via Useful Things.

Things We Pay Too Much For
Movies, coffee, ATM fees. Any of those sound familiar? How about bottled water or pre-packaged fruits and veggies? If so, check out this list of ten items we overpay for, and find some alternatives.

“Ten Things We Overpay For”
via Kiplinger

Five Ways to Connect Your iPod to Your Car Stereo
So your car stereo doesn’t have an iPod or MP3 player plug-in? No worries. Popular Mechanics shows you five ways you can still listen to your tunes without burning CDs or buying a new system.

“The Best iPod Car Adapters, and How to Install Them”
via Popular Mechanics

Where to Find Motivation for Your Workouts
These easy suggestions for finding motivation will put your mind in the right place while working out.

“How to Build Motivation for Your Workout”
via Dumb Little Man

Create and Discover Your Family Tree
With the help of your relatives, you can create and discover your family tree at Dynastree.com.

Your Free Online Family Tree
Dynastree

Smart Tips for Buying Paint
Painting is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to spruce up a room, but buying the right amount of paint, and prepping for it, isn’t always so easy. DIY Network’s video shows you what you need to know.

“Smart Tips for Buying Paint”
via DIY Network

New Inexpensive Solar Lighting Options from IKEA
IKEA’s new line of solar lighting offers nine inexpensive options, for both indoor and outdoor use.

“IKEA Launches Solar Lighting Line”
via Eco Geek

Let’s face it, everyone loses control and enters the frazzled zone once in a while. Chores pile up, relationships go untended, and stress levels mount. If you’re lucky, this is a temporary situation, but more often than not, once life starts to live you, it’s hard to take the reins back and start living life. What can you do to take back control? Here are a few simple steps.

Get Your Priorities Straight
Decide what is most important to you in life. What is your vision? What do you want, and where do you want to be? Make three lists—one for right now, one for the year, and one for the future beyond. Realize, however, that goals change, and be flexible with yourself and your priorities. Start with what you want to achieve immediately, and work from there. To get yourself to where you want to be, remember it will take hard work and discipline, but that action oriented people are often the most successful.

Set Realistic Goals
Goals you set for yourself should be fully within your control. Don’t wish for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow to finance that home remodel or family vacation, but do set aside money each month or week. Also, be careful setting rigid time-frames for your goals. Flexibility is a virtue.

Schedule
You schedule meetings and the like at work, right? Why not set schedules at home, too? Schedule family dinner night, date night, time for yourself night, and goal-oriented weekends, for example, and it won’t be long before you recognize the benefits.

Clean Out the Clutter
It’s hard to feel peaceful and in control of your life when your house is a mess. Take a weekend or two and put it in order. Clean out everything you haven’t used in 6 months to 1 year, and donate it to charity. Once your house is clean, keep it that way. It only takes a couple minutes a day to put things away, but it could take an entire day or more to clean up a week or month’s worth of clutter.

You Are What You Eat
A healthy, well-balanced diet provides you with the nutrients you need. When you eat right, your body and mind can tell the difference. Too much salt, fat, and sugar contributes to stress. If you’re body is having a hard time processing what you’re eating, you won’t feel happy and at ease.

The Benefits of Exercise and Adequate Sleep
You’ve heard it said time and again—to live a healthy life-style, you need plenty of exercise and adequate sleep. It’s true. Exercise releases endorphins and ups serotonin in your blood, both of which contribute to feelings of well-being. Adequate sleep reenergizes your body and mind, and helps you focus and complete daily tasks.

Realize You Can’t Control Everything
The only person you can control is you. Make the right choices for you and follow-through with them. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and, though it’s easier said than done, don’t worry until you need to.