Sometimes you just get stuck.  You’re trying to drive in snow and you get stuck.  You’re trying to lose weight and you plateau and get stuck.  You’re trying to write a paper and you get stuck.  You’re trying to get through Couch to 5K and you get to week 6 and get stuck (maybe this is just me…but it has happened to me multiple times).  You try to write a Moneywise Tip and get stuck so end up sending it out on Tuesday rather than Monday (ok…this is definitely just me).

Sometimes you just get stuck.  It happens with money more often than anyone would like.  You put together a budget and you’re saving for bar expenses when your best friend announces a wedding you will have to be in.  You have your budget on track and even accounted for winter heat bills when a polar vortex knocks the temperature below ten degrees for two weeks straight, making the big heat bill you expected larger than you were prepared for.

Getting stuck financially is never fun.  But it must be dealt with.  In a perfect world, you have an emergency fund set aside for such situations.  But the world is not perfect.  So you may need to adjust other areas of your budget to make ends meet (Ramen, anyone?).  Or you may need to use a credit card to get yourself past the “stuck” and then budget to get that paid off as quickly as possible.  You may need to reach out to friends or family for some bridge funds.  You may need to dig a bit further into the student loan pot.  You may need to pick up a few more hours per week at work.  You may need to explore “side gigs” such as online surveys or ride share driving.  You may need to sell some belongings.  But you need to do something to get yourself unstuck.

Being stuck isn’t fun.  But there’s always a way to break yourself free from it.  You just need to find it and keep moving forward.