You're broke, not broken. 

When it's difficult to make ends meet, remember these three things:

1. Give yourself grace.

While it’s difficult to navigate life without enough money, whatever amount enough looks like for you, it’s important to handle yourself with compassion. Forgive yourself for the mistakes that got you in a rut and understand that you did the best you could with what you know. Journeying with grace makes you acknowledge the reality of your situation and gives you the patience to plan a better financial situation.

2. You are not alone.

Being in a financial wilderness can be very isolating especially when there is shame involved. As humans we are wired for connection and your community can come through for you if you let them. Open up to friends and family that you trust and see how freeing it can be. Engage with a therapist or financial advisor and get the help you need to deal with the overwhelm.

3. We cannot financially plan ourselves out of bad governance.

Systemic failure plays a big role in the quality of our lives. While there is a lot we can do to make ourselves rich, ultimately bad governance will determine whether your hard work will pay off. As you work on better money management habits, advocate for your rights and that of others in whichever way you can.

Hard times are only for a moment. You got this!