<prompt> Human: Im 27 years old and have been through a lot financially, mostly due to serious health issues preventing me from work and a total lack of confident knowledge about money. Right now my credit sucks, I have no debt anymore, and have the basic bills rent, food, car insurance to maintain. I made 35k last year, have no money saved and know nothing about IRAs or investing. I know its simply a lack of financial knowledge but I get anxiety when researching these things.So a few questions...Where should I start? Are stocks and investing even a good idea? How the hell do you fix bad credit when youve never owned a credit card but cant even get one without shoveling out 300? Is owning a CC even the right idea for fixing credit?Is it possible to set a base savings retirement invest in stocks and be financially stable in two years?My car needs lots of work and soon, I cant get a loan for a new one, is there a way to save up a decent dollar in a short amount of time? Whats the best way to budget? And finally: with so much media on finance out there, what would be the best book for me to go with? Im always anxious Ill grab the wrong one and burn my money away trying to make my finances better.Thanks Reddit!ALostBrokeChicaEdit:Thank you for all the advice! Im definitely going to start a budget tonight and pick up some of the literature!  <response>: Here is my advice.I live this way and it took my wife three years to get on board before she realized how powerful it can be. First you MUST live below your means. You already know what your rent food and car insurance costs are. Do you make a decent amount more than that? If not you need to cost cut. First in food being the easiest, shopping and buying food at the grocery store is so much cheaper than eating out. You should be eating most of your meals that you prepare and make yourself. If you dont know how to cook, LEARN, recipes are so easy and all of them are on the internet.Shop your car insurance around and make sure that you are getting the best rate possible. If you dont have a savings account, open one up with bank that does not charge fees for having an account. My first credit card had a 500 dollar limit and I always had to have 500 dollars in my savings. Banks will usually work with you in this regard as my credit score was 0. YOU MUST PAY THIS OFF IN FULL EVERY MONTH, NO EXCEPTIONS.Your budget should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be significantly lower than your total income. If it is not, you need to cut. It can be painful, but you have to do it to build yourself back up. Cut Cable TV if you have it if necessary, get slower internet. These are things you have to do if necessary. Netflix and Hulu give great alternatives for far cheaper.I cannot emphasize to you right now that you must live below your means. I dont even budget my money because I know my income far exceeds my bills, and trust me Im not rich, I am just a middle class worker like yourself. You should be able to save money up in a fairly reasonable amount of time this way. You have to live this way in order to give yourself financial freedom. Do not invest money until you have this basic stuff down. When the time comes and youre comfortable youll be able to invest money. 