HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – According to a recent WalletHub survey, about 70% of Americans feel insecure about their finances.<\/p>\n
And recession fears are making it worse. <\/p>\n
If money problems are keeping you up at night, experts say you can do something about it, and one habit can help you take control of your money, even when everything feels out of your control.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith everybody needing long-term care and daily assisted living, I started really watching as much as possible on the spending, the daily spending,\u201d said Vernon Viernes, who says he had to be the de facto family accountant after becoming a caregiver for his wife and parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we really gotta crunch the numbers, and watch how much I spend daily for food,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
For his family, that means fewer plate lunches and less going out, and more buying groceries in bulk and cooking at home. <\/p>\n
Personal finance expert Jean Chatzky says you don\u2019t have to wait until a major life event, like becoming a family caregiver, to manage your spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people go through life kind of unconscious about this and don\u2019t really follow their cash flows. And so my very first step with people is just to get them tracking,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting really granular about where your money is going gives you the power to make changes about where you want it to go.\u201d <\/p>\n
A recent WalletHub survey showed 80% of Americans say budgeting makes them feel more financially secure.<\/p>\n
So while getting started can feel daunting, Chatzy says commit to watching your expenses for one week. Save your receipts or use an app. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you do it for a couple of months, typically you have a good enough sense of where your money is going that you can back off a little bit and keep yourself within the margins,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
And that can help you build financial resilience to better prepare you for the unexpected.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t control the stock market. You can\u2019t control interest rates. You can\u2019t control inflation. You can control to some degree, how much you earn, how much you save, how much you spend, where you spend it, look at those levers,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re maxing out your credit cards to get by, experts suggest transferring the debt to a lower interest rate card or line of credit. And pay your bills on time to improve your credit score.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure that you\u2019re really only using 10% to 30% of the capacity that you have on your credit cards,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Managing money in multigenerational households can be especially stressful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m juggling and managing multiple budgets. And man, I spent a whole day sometimes just doing the paying of the bills,\u201d Viernes said.<\/p>\n
Chatzky advises families to talk openly and honestly about money.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not discussing family finances, particularly with your adult children who are living in the same house that you are, I guarantee that you are doubling up on expenditures that you should not be doubling up on,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n