This seems to be the week for dealing with financial stress. Likely because the third week of January is when many people have fully settled back into a routine after the Christmas holidays and… the shopping bills arrive in the mail. The credit card statements and December bills are in the mailbox and due now. That will force a good hard look at the current state of affairs, regardless of whether it’s additional debt from December shopping and entertainment. Or, perhaps it’s just regular bills that are due – that on top of the Christmas expenses seem to put a drag on the bank account. Or, maybe you didn’t put the same attention you would have normally towards your business or your investments and now you are looking at the results from last month and not impressed.

Whatever the reason, the best place to start is at step one: where you are, then get clear on where you want to be, and grab a pen and paper and start documenting exactly where you are. Get the current reality in writing so you have the details to take to a professional to help fill in the gap between where you are and where you want to be.