HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – According to a recent WalletHub survey, about 70% of Americans feel insecure about their finances.
And recession fears are making it worse.
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.
“With everybody needing long-term care and daily assisted living, I started really watching as much as possible on the spending, the daily spending,” said Vernon Viernes, who says he had to be the de facto family accountant after becoming a caregiver for his wife and parents.
“So we really gotta crunch the numbers, and watch how much I spend daily for food,” he explained.
For his family, that means fewer plate lunches and less going out, and more buying groceries in bulk and cooking at home.
Personal finance expert Jean Chatzky says you don’t have to wait until a major life event, like becoming a family caregiver, to manage your spending.
“A lot of people go through life kind of unconscious about this and don’t really follow their cash flows. And so my very first step with people is just to get them tracking,” she said. “Getting really granular about where your money is going gives you the power to make changes about where you want it to go.”
A recent WalletHub survey showed 80% of Americans say budgeting makes them feel more financially secure.
So while getting started can feel daunting, Chatzy says commit to watching your expenses for one week. Save your receipts or use an app.
“Once 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,” she said.
And that can help you build financial resilience to better prepare you for the unexpected.
“You can’t control the stock market. You can’t control interest rates. You can’t 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,” she said.
If you’re 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.
“Make sure that you’re really only using 10% to 30% of the capacity that you have on your credit cards,” she said.
Managing money in multigenerational households can be especially stressful.
“I’m juggling and managing multiple budgets. And man, I spent a whole day sometimes just doing the paying of the bills,” Viernes said.
Chatzky advises families to talk openly and honestly about money.
“If you’re 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,” she said.
Chatzky and other financial experts will share more strategies at Hawaii Business Magazine’s financial conference at Punahou School this Saturday, Nov. 22, from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH JEAN CHATZKY:
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