It’s a sad statement of fact that for many people, their money is what controls them. Whether it’s through excess work they have to do so they can meet their financial obligations, or through sheer greed and not knowing when is enough, some people’s lives are governed by money.

It could be the other way around, though. You could have control over your money, use it to get what you want, and then not think about it because you don’t have to. The best part of it is that it’s not that hard – everyone can take control back into their hands. Here’s how.

Figure Out Your Revenue and Expenses

The first part seems simple – find out how much you have coming in and figure out where it’s going out. You won’t have that many problems with finding all your revenue streams and adding them up. But when it comes to expenses? That’s where you might come across problems.

You can stick to broad categories like food, financial obligations, gas, utilities, entertainment. However, for at least some of those, you’ll have to create a more itemized list, and that would require you to track your spending over some time. This can be especially difficult for food, where you can suddenly find out, for example, that you have a sweet tooth you weren’t aware of and that costs you money and health. So get ready to dig in.

Find Out What Are Your Priorities

There are some things that you simply cannot cut back on, as they’ll cost you much more than continuing to pay them would. That mortgage you negotiated over at Big Law Investor? That’s a commitment you want to keep. The same goes for car payments and anything else where possible cutbacks might cause tremendous losses.

If you skip on a credit card payment or two, your credit score will get dinged. If you decide to eat at home more, you’ll have to learn how to cook and find some time for it. You can also choose only one or two streaming services instead of all of them, and before you know it, you’ll find yourself with more breathing room.

Set Aside for Number One

That’s right – you should pay yourself first. You’re not working for the government, or the phone company, or the store where you shop. You’re working for yourself, and some amount of money has to go to meet your existential needs. This means retirement and health insurance.

If you have the room, make sure to include money for some nice-to-have items, such as holiday trips, presents for loved ones, maybe even an allowance to treat yourself occasionally. You should, however, remember to be reasonable with this because we still haven’t got to the end of the list, and there’s one more item that will require a lot of your attention if you want to take back control over your money.

Get Rid of Debt

Once you’re on your feet and you’ve figured out the basics of your plan, you can go for the jugular and start paying off your debt. If you can refinance or consolidate it, give it a go, but only if you end up saving money. If you decided to skip a payment or two on a credit card, you should know it might get harder to find a refinancing loan that will offer better conditions. Still, even without it, start meeting all your obligations one at a time and try to avoid taking on new ones.