If you struggle with overspending, get support by taking these steps:

• Track expenses. To effectively move forward, you need to know where you’ve been. Take a look at your income and expenses. Are there accounts with small balances you could pay off quickly? What about high interest rates that could prove troublesome in the long run?
• Pause nonessential purchases. Get control of your finances by evaluating your spending to avoid additional debt. Put away your credit cards. Don’t buy any big-ticket items or nonessential purchases.
• Develop a spending plan. Decide on your top priorities and how you want to use your money. For example, if you value family activities and travel, cut back on other areas like entertainment or dining out. Continue tracking your expenses and adjust as necessary.

Missed or late payments can be detrimental to your finances and your credit score. Take these steps for improved punctuality:

• Set reminders and alerts. Use a calendar app to set up monthly reminders. Mountain America also has a robust alerts and notifications feature in online and mobile banking. You can set up payment reminders, balance alerts and many other helpful notices.
• Create a safety net. Open a secondary savings or money market account that is used only for unforeseen costs. Make regular deposits, even if they are small. Work toward having enough savings for emergency expenses and eventually build up this account to cover three to six months of living expenses.
• Create a plan. If late payments are a result of overspending, you can use several strategies to address the issue. See the “Gain control of spending” section above for details.

There are a number of tried-and-true payment strategies, but two of the most effective are the snowball and avalanche methods.

• Build momentum with the snowball method. With this strategy, you’ll want to pay off the credit card or loan with the smallest balance first. Once that’s paid off, move on to the credit card with the next lowest balance. Before you know it, you will be making fewer payments each month and paying down your overall debt!
• Wipe out debt with the avalanche method. This method focuses on paying off the credit card with the highest interest rate first. Put as much money as you can toward that bill. As you pay off one credit card, roll the amount you were paying into the credit card with the next highest rate. This strategy will limit the amount of interest you’ll pay as you reduce your debt.