Even the most fiscally responsible people can end up falling on hard times. That’s just the way it goes. One unforeseen expense – an illness, a natural disaster, a really, really fun vacation – can take your bank account from green to red in no time. If you find yourself suddenly facing a mountain of bills without a safety net of funds to cover them with, it’s easy to let the self-doubt and panic set in.

First of all, breathe. And forgive yourself; it happens. What matters isn’t so much that you’re in a financial crisis but what you’re going to do to get out of it.

So what do you do to get out of crisis? Even in the most hopeless of situations, there are steps you can take to keep your sanity, get your head back about above water, and take preventative measures to keep you from going back under. getting into a bad financial situation again.

Take honest stock of where you are

If you were a doctor and someone who was badly injured came into your hospital, what is the first thing you would do? Diagnose them. Figuring out what the problem is is always the first step towards correcting it. [rephrase to get rid of the double is] Even if you’re feeling tight with money across the board, odds are that there is one main cause of the fiscal “bleeding” – the thing that is throwing everything else out of balance. Even if that ends up being several things.

Taking honest stock of where you are also includes taking a look at your own behavior; how responsible are you about keeping track of your money, your spending, and paying everything on time? Don’t worry – you’re just dealing with yourself here. No need to feel bad. Just be completely real in your assessment of your monetary behavior so you can take genuine steps towards improving your situation.

Do what you have to do right now

If you’re in actual crisis (you’ll know if you are, trust me) then this is no time to get wrapped up in your own pride [its also no time to be reading this blog...]. Deal with the fallout later. Right now, you should do whatever you need to do (within your personal moral and legal limits, naturally) to get your head above water again. Whether this means something as small as borrowing a bit of cash from a family member, or something as drastic as filing for bankruptcy, just do it.

Why go for the quick fix? Quite simply, financial stress typically becomes an all-out crisis when the issue of time becomes pressing – once you find yourself up against the wall and you’re very short on time, that’s when things can get tough. Doing whatever it takes to temporarily ease the stress will give you what you need most – a minute to breathe and the room to assess your more general financial situation.

Evaluate your situation

I get an inexplicable sense of calm and comfort from making lists during times to turmoil. For some reason, organizing the things that stress me make them easier to deal with. It’s a control thing. The point is, even if you don’t get the same comfort from organization that I do, this is still something that you must do during financial crisis.

Spreadsheets are exceptionally useful for this purpose. Make lists of all your monthly income – how much, where it comes from, at what time and with what regularity. Then make a list of monthly expenses. Be thorough here; don’t just include bills, mortgage and groceries. If you go out to dinner once or twice a week, include that. From this, you should be able to get a clear picture of how much extra money you’re pulling in each month – or how much of a deficit you’re in.

Form a game plan

Now that you have a true idea of the flow of your finances, brainstorm ideas to either manage your money better, if you are, in fact, making enough money. If your organization efforts show that you aren’t making enough money, think of ways to start bringing in additional income. Think about taking another job, maximizing income from your current position, etc. And as much as no one loves to do this, it might be a good idea to start making cuts from your list of regular expenses. See what’s expendable; after a while, I promise you won’t miss your daily $4 muffin – but you will enjoy the extra money. Above all, you’ll benefit immensely from the peace of mind you’ll gain from having a firm hold over your financial life – and it might just keep you from getting into another crisis situation.