Financial troubles can cause all sorts of physical and psychological problems. Everything from your ability to afford healthy food–or any food at all–to your social life is impacted by financial problems. Here are some tips to help you improve your finances.

Have a little envelope with you at all times. Put store receipts and things like business cards in it. It’s important to keep these things for future reference. This way, you can compare your receipts to your monthly credit card statement, to ensure that all the charges are correct.

If a credit repair company guarantees a better credit score, run away screaming. A lot of credit repair organizations will make broad, general statements about what they can do for you to clean up your credit. Credit repair can never be guaranteed as every situation is unique, and the steps needed for repair will be unique as well. There is no way to guarantee success, and if a business tells you they can, they are lying.

Don’t sell if the time is not right for you. If a stock is making you money, and increasing in value, avoid selling it too soon. Take a look at stocks that are performing less well, and think about making some changes with them.

To save both money and time, buy bulk quantities of lean protein. Buying in bulk is generally less expensive if you use everything you bought. You will save time and money by cooking many meals at one time. Choose dishes that freeze well and you can have dinner ready for a week!

Credit Cards

Typically owning two to four credit cards that you regularly use and pay off will help keep your credit score high. Using a single credit card will delay the process of building your credit, while having a large amount of credit cards can be a potential indicator of poor financial management. Begin with just two cards to raise your credit; you can always add more when it becomes necessary.

Keep an envelope with you on your person. You can store receipts, business cards, and other important items in it. It’s important to keep these things for future reference. It’s useful to have your receipts if you ever see double charges for a purchase on your credit card statement.

Don’t be alarmed if your credit score goes down as you begin working on repairing your credit. A drop in your credit score does not mean you have done something wrong. If you keep up on your credit report your score will go up!

Get a good health insurance policy. Unfortunately, everyone falls ill at one time or another. The right health care coverage is important. If you don’t have insurance you will be looking at healthcare bills that could add up to thousands of dollars. If you don’t have good insurance, you could be left drowning in debt.

If your debt has been turned over to a collection agency, keep in mind that if the debt is not collected, it will eventually expire. Ask experts when your debt expires and avoid paying collection agencies that attempt to collect money for older debt.

Buy your food in large quantities to save money and spend less time shopping. It will always save you money if you can buy in bulk as long as you are able to use all that you purchased. You can save time by spending one day cooking enough meals with this meat that will last you all week.

By taking the time to go over your finances yourself, you will find yourself more relaxed as you get to know exactly where you stand with your bills and savings. Taking control of your finances can be an excellent way of getting some stress out of your life and allows you to pay more attention to other things in your life.