Being in your 30’s is the usually the start of many worries. Often, this is the point in your life when you have a lot of questions to ask, a lot of insecurities, and a lot of doubts and confusions you didn’t bother thinking about when you were younger. If you still don’t have a job or if you are still not in a place where you want to be, your age will certainly make things even worse, especially when it comes to your finances. Consider using the following finance help tips below to weather financial difficulties in your 30’s better.

Get a good sense of your financial standing.

This is a basic step in improving your finances. You have to know how you are doing financially. Understand the situation you are in. If you are in a job that does not pay well enough, look for other employment opportunities or try to obtain additional qualifications that can get you promoted to higher ranks with better compensation. If you are a businessman and you don’t see increases in your earnings, consider expansion or try vertical ventures that are feasible. Don’t think that because you already have a job or a steadily earning business, you already have enough of what you need. Also, examine the financial obligations you need to attend to.

Track the earnings and expenses you incur over a period (monthly or yearly). You have to be conscious of how your cash flows. Of course, you should have more income than expenses. Breaking even is just never enough. You can’t really have a good sense of your financial standing unless you consciously look into it and see everything quantified.

It always helps having some budgeting skills. There are many free online budgeting tools that feature intuitive interfaces. You can pick one of these or install a budgeting app on your smartphone or tablet computer. They will always be handy in tracking your cash flows and learning how to prioritize expenses.

• Maximize your properties or resources while minimizing your debts. Look at the properties or assets you have. Are you making good use of them or are they just idle assets you are paying taxes for? If you have a tract of land, consider leasing it or developing it to generate additional income. Maintaining a car you don’t get to use often? Why not sell it to allocate money to more important concerns? You need to carefully see the values of what you have. Bear in mind that things you don’t use also come with maintenance or storage expenses. Some can even be taxed. Think like a businessman.

If you have several debts, make sure that you allocate funds to get them extinguished. Remember that the longer they remain, the bigger the interest expense becomes. Consider debt consolidation. If you can obtain a new loan with a lower overall cost of borrowing, avail of that loan to completely pay off smaller debts that actually have bigger interest rates.

• Save.Yes, this is one short word but it means a lot for those in their thirties. Even if you are earning well enough, you must consider putting some amount to savings. Avoid spending everything you earn. Even better, adjust your lifestyle to make sure that you get to have savings even when you don’t seem to be earning enough. There is no standard on the specific percentage of income that should go to savings. What matters is the act of developing the habit to save.

You save for a number of reasons. For one, you have to save for retirement. It also helps having savings so you can have some liquid asset to spare in times of emergencies. Likewise, when you encounter great investment opportunities, it’s always great having had some money set aside to fund meaningful acquisitions like the rock bottom priced houses or lots.

• Prepare for financial uncertainties.Personal finance, just like handling the financial matters of a business, is never certain. There will always be unpredictable factors to be encountered. Fortunately, there are ways to deal with these uncertainties. These ways are mainly through insurance plans. For a thirty-something head of the family, health insurance is a must. For someone who runs a business, there are insurance policies that must also be obtained to ensure protection against unexpected financial obligations arising from accidents, disasters, and other similar incidents.

These are just some basic personal finance help pointers worth knowing. However, they should provide enough guidance on how you can do better in managing your finances. It’s easy to learn the rest once you get well acquainted with the basics.