Listed below are ten warning signals that can help you determine whether you are headed for financial trouble. If any of these conditions apply to you, it’s time to take a closer look at your budget. If three or more apply, you are in financial difficulty and should seek assistance as soon as possible.

1. Using credit to buy things you used to be able to buy with cash
2. Getting new loans or extensions to pay your debts
3. Paying only the minimum amount due on charge cards
4. Receiving overdue notices from creditors
5. Using savings to pay bills that you used to pay from checking
6. Borrowing on life insurance with little chance of repayment
7. Depending on overtime pay to make ends meet each month
8. Using your checking account “overdraft” to pay regular bills
9. Juggling rent or mortgage money to pay other debts
10. Using credit card cash advances to help pay living expenses

• Fifty-nine million Americans are addicted to shopping or spending.
• About 3,960 Americans filed for personal bankruptcy per day. That’s nearly 18 percent increase from January and 28 percent from a year earlier, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a bankruptcy data and management company. It is expected that the number of bankruptcies nationwide would reach 1.2 million to 1.4 million this year, up from 826,732 in 2007.
• Individual consumers incur approximately $2 to $3 billion a month in consumer debt. Collectively, we owe $3 trillion.
• Over 200 million credit cards are in circulation, up from 120 million in 1980. The average balance per card is $1,300, compared to $500 just a decade ago.
• The number of people behind on car payments has risen 25 percent in the past few years.
• Nearly 5 percent of homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments.
• More than 70 percent of adult American consumers have at least one derogatory remark on their credit reports.
• Nearly 46 percent of all credit reports contain inaccurate, obsolete, or misleading information.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) receives more complaints related to credit-reporting abuses than all other matters combined.
• More than 40 million American adults do not qualify for a major credit card.
• One out of three people who actually get a look at their files seek changes, and 75 percent are entitled to them.
• A recent study of 6,000 credit reports revealed a 47percent error factor in reporting information.