Your mother's wisdom about being prepared before going out in the rain holds
true when you find yourself in a financial storm.

Whether your “rainy day” fund has run out or you got caught by the surprise of a sudden downpour of bills, here are a few things you can do to weather a financial storm.

Grab An Umbrella
Seek immediate solutions to stabilize your situation.

Protect Your Biggest Assets – contact your mortgage and car company to
let them know your current situation and work out payment arrangements with
them.

The mortgage companies don’t want your house back, with the current mortgage
crisis the banks have been better than ever before in working out long-term payment arrangements that will keep your house out of foreclosure.
 

• Speak to a representative in the loss mitigation department at your mortgage
  company to work out an arrangement
   

• Call The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - www.NACA.com
  for support on lowering interest rates and fighting foreclosure
   

• Contact the Consumer Credit Counseling Services - www.CCCS.org
  for an income evaluation to put an immediate spending plan in place
  and negotiate with creditors on your behalf

With the price of food and utilities on the rise by 30 percent, you’ll need to shop in bulk at discount stores such as Costcos or BJs to get the biggest bang for your buck and adopt energy saving habits.

• Plan meals in advance so you know exactly ingredients you will be preparing each day.
   

• Shop only from a list and avoid deviating.
   

• Stop buying bottled water and purchase a water filter instead.
   

• Utilities companies are willing to work with individuals and families who are experiencing difficulties making payments, you must talk with a representative of the company to learn about the payment plans available
   

Another thing you must do is seek viable ways to increase your income. Since it could take a while to secure full-time employment with benefits, while you are searching I strongly suggest:

• Look for employment in areas that you might not have considered before so you can broaden your search and acquire new skills.
   

• Freelancing – if you have a computer and skills as in data entry, administration, web design, proofreading, editing, etc., create a profile on services like Elance.com and Guru.com to market your services.
   

• Open an eBay store - this is a great option for making a profit on items that you no longer want and that someone else needs, you could organize a group of friends to put items up for auction and make money together.
   

• Waitressing - this might seem like a blast from your college past, however if you find yourself cash strapped and in need of seeing some immediate results the tips earned from waiting tables could be the boost you need to get you back on your financial feet.

Put on your Raincoat
Identify ways to cut out non-essentials.

Cover Only What’s Necessary – cable, cell phone, magazine subscriptions, gym memberships, movie rentals, high speed internet, etc.

The bottom line is you may have to make some adjustments in your lifestyle that may be a bit uncomfortable, however just remember that this storm will be temporary and so will the adjustments.

• Make a complete list of everything that you are currently paying on a monthly basis and look for at least 3 non-essentials you can do without until the storm blows over.
   

• Identify free and or low cost ways to have fun as a family.
   

  • Have "game night" at you house and pull out board games to play as a family.

  • Choose a "movie night" to watch some of you favorite films.

  • Use the newspaper and Internet to find "free" events in your area.
     

• Check to see if your local church or community center offer free or low-cost family-friendly activities that can replace something that you've cut out.
   

• Reduce your calling plan or get a pre-paid cell phone for necessary and emergency calls.
   

Rain can fall on even the best parade, the important thing to remember is that a financial storm can be weathered with open communication to your creditors, some creative thought and action on your part and by remaining hopeful that the sun will shine again.