If anything good has come out of this current economic downturn it is the fact that many of us have gotten a wake up call. We have learned the hard way that living beyond our means and up to our eyeballs in debt is not the best way to ensure our financial future, not to mention being able to get a good nights sleep! But the good thing is that financial crisis and help with finances are now a lot more readily available.

It’s sad but true, throughout history things haven’t gotten better until there was some sort of tragedy. Think of the lack of life boats on a cruise ship, no one bothered until the Titanic went down. The same is true today with the financial crisis and help.

Due to the economy and so many people losing their job, there are now plenty of resources where you can turn for help. If you want some information on how to get out of debt, make a budget you can live with or just become more financially educated, you can turn to many places for that help.

But if you want some actual financial assistance your options are a little harder to find and a little more limited due to the increased need. Many programs like food banks, are now stretched to the breaking point.

Personally, I think it is a good idea to start with what you already have. Instead of trying to get some money from a program that is probably running out of money, why not start to try to take better care of your finances?

Going this route, you don’t have to worry about the program running out of money. Instead you are making changes right from the source.

I have a friend who has a grown son who got behind on his student loan payments. When we started talking about it she asked me what her son could do. I told her I didn’t mean to sound insensitive but the truth is he had two choices: he could lower his debt or make more money.

That is about it. Since making more money isn’t likely at this point, he needs to spend his time finding ways to lower his debt. Many of us are in the same situation and it can seem hopeless but we might have more options than we realize.

Her son, for example, pays hundreds of dollars every month for an expensive phone and phone plan. My friend has actually gotten rid of her contract phone and is happily using a pay as you go phone. Her monthly phone bill is around and her son is paying over 0 a month.

So, there are things he can do to lower his overall expenses, he just needs to be willing to do them. I’ll bet if you are really honest with yourself you can find ways to cut your expenses too.

This is one of the simplest ways to give yourself a little breathing room. The more money you free up the more money you can save or apply to paying down other debt. It will take time but you can find yourself in a much better financial situation over time.

Financial crisis and help tend to go hand in hand. It seems like the worse things get, the more help is available. Get the help you need to avert any more financial crises in your life.