<prompt> Human: I made around 48000 this year. I have no savings and am in debt. I started a mint account to track my spending. Which helped a bit.over the summer I got in a car wreck and took out an installment loan for repairs and got myself in a bind. My payments are 325 every 2 weeks on a 2000 dollar loan. I called today and they said I owe just over 2000 still. They say everything ive paid to date has been interest except for 1.91. They said all my payments have been to interest so far. I dont understand this.My car payment is 260, rent is 325, phone 70, internet 65, gas 40, water and electric fluctuates between 80 and 120. Insurance is 205. I owe 3000 in away credit card misc. Student loans are 240. My credit score is poor.I really want to get out from this installment loan. My sister says I should hire a financial planner because I suck with money. Is there a way to hire someone to put me on a budget and limit my access to my own money? This month I spent 120 dollars shopping for myself. 430 on a benefit for my nephew with cancer. I have no clue how much on Christmas and around 200 on groceries. I make to much to be living paycheck to paycheck but here I am. My biggest fault is overspending..but not usually on myselfAny advise would be appreciated. ThanksAssistant: Cut literally everything you can until you get rid of the payday loan, those things are predatory and have absurd interest rates. You would literally be better off maxing out credit cards to pay it off than letting it sit there with its 35-45 interest rate.But dont actually put it on your CC unless you have to.Human: Is my only option with the payday loan to pick up OT and pay it off? Ive made a bunch of payments and its still huge  <response>: Its not your only option but its the best option. Youll feel so much better when its over. When you ask about the interest rate, also ask if there is a pre-payment penalty or some other gotcha about paying it off right away.In general, it sounds like CC debt is not something that you should be doing until you can manage it better. But in the future it might be better to put such loans on a low-interest CC instead of getting a repair loan. First way to move forward since looking backwards on Mint only does so much is to start your budget from the top down. Instead of saying, this is what my expenses are, you should tell yourself, this is what my income is, and I cant spend more than that.Calculate income first, then subtract necessary expenses rent, utilities, debts, and whatever is left is what you can afford to spend on your car, food, insurance, and everything else. Seeing that number can be a big eye opener compared to what you have been spending in the past. How to do this: Get your paystub. See how much you make gross. Then look at your pay stubs and subtract how much is withheld for taxes and benefits. That will show you how much you have remaining as take-home pay net. Then subtract your necessary costs include not just monthly costs but annual costs too, like income taxes in April or DMV registration, etc. Whatever income you have left should be set aside for bills, savings, and other stuff. If you dont have enough for your lifestyle, then you need to make more or spend less. Good luck! Happy 2015. 