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Create your monthly & annual expense budget
Many people are afraid to do this...
They don't really want to know what it really costs to live. But you should do it to ensure you can survive financially. This is a family matter that parents should share with children old enough to grasp the concept. Couples should do this to get honest about their finances. A single person, a couple, or a family all can learn a lot about their spending habits, money needs, and ways to cut costs.

List all your expenses
You just simply have to do this. If you a responsible adult, a responsible parent of your children you need to get this down on paper. Then and only then can you make good decisions.
How can you survive financially?
• Prepare a budget of all your expenses. Here is a comparison between a family of 4 with a single person. These are completely made up, but the family is similar to one I knew that actually spent a lot more than their budget. They borrowed on home equity to buy toys like a boat, a motor home, cars, cloths, eating out, vacations, etc. They went broke trying to pay loans and credit card. 

#1 task is to gather up all your bills, all your payments, etc. Organize everything to understand what your family pays on a monthly basis to keep life going at your house. Only when you have this down on paper (or in the computer) can you study your expenditures to see if you are in trouble or not.
EXAMPLES OF BUDGETS
A family of 4 in a suburban home
$95,000/year		 A single elderly person living alone
$17,800/year
Expense Monthly yearly
House payment $2,240  
Food $1280  
Car#1 payment $350  
Car#2 payment $200  
Boat payment $150  
Boat registration   $60
Gasoline $400  
Auto registration   $600
Auto insurance $105  
Automobile maintenance   $800
Telephone $179  
Electric utilities $258  
Household stuff:
(pet food, laundry det., toilet paper, toothpaste, batteries, office paper, etc.)		 $600  
DirecTV $90  
Medical Ins. $189  
Dental $100  
Medical, misc.   $900
Minimum credit card payments $400  
Garbage collection $29  
Clothing $300  
Haircuts $20  
Misc. shopping for gifts, cosmetics, etc. $120  
Dry cleaning $30  
Vacations   $3,500
Movies, entertainment $120  
Renting videos $70  
Eating out, restaurants $150  
Ordering out pizza $50  
Savings $0.00  
College funds for children $0.00  
Emergency fund savings $0.00  
  Total monthly $7,430 Total annual
$5,860

Monthly X 12 = $89,160/year + $5,860 = $95,020
Expense Monthly yearly
food $240  
car payment    
car registration   $60
car insurance $30  
car maintenance   $200
telephone $30  
Electric utilities $135  
Household stuff:
(cat food, laundry det., toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, batteries, office paper, etc.)		 $300  
DirecTV $90  
Rent $450  
Medical Ins. $29  
Dental    
Medical, misc.   $100
Minimum credit card payment $100  
Garbage collection $29  
clothing $20  
laundry    
movies, entertainment    
renting videos    
eating out, restaurants    
ordering out pizza    
  Total monthly
$1,453		 Total annual $360
Monthly X 12 = $17,436/year + $360 = $17,796
Get it organized!
Maybe you need to start by filling a box with all your bills in it. I have 2 boxes-an "inbox" of the unpaid ones, plus another with the year written on it. That one collects everything paid for that year. This is used when preparing IRS taxes, and contains important receipts to save.

Each year's box of records is archived (stored in a closet), with a new one set up again for the new year. So there is a new 2009 box, an old one for 2008 one to do my taxes, then in the closet are 2007, 2006, etc.

Set up a desk for your bill paying. Everything should be there on hand: stapler (I like to staple stuff) paperclips, postage stamps, pens, note pads, file folders, checkbook, envelopes, postage scale, etc.