<prompt> Human: I almost need someone to go through all of my finances sort it all out. I made bad financial choices when I was younger. Im 33 and trying to get it all straightened out.Ive got past current student loans was just made aware of wage garnishment currently going on. This was from some bad checks when I was 20. I paid it all off but the debt collector is saying I still owe 500 and some odd change. Im aware I have to go to the court house and get whatever paper work is needed to prove that. As far as straightening all of my finances out including student loans. What do I need to do?I dont know where to start. This is very overwhelming. Im not that great at financial management.  <response>: Step 1: take a deep breath. Step 2: Hard numbers. What does your actual monthly incomeoutpay look like? Gather up every single bill from Netflix to your rentmortgage, and look list every single one, then go back and see how much youre spending on gasgroceriesetc. Make a spreadsheet of an actual budget. That will show you where you can cut back and how much actual excess you have every month to pay off the debt. After that, you can begin working on validating and payingarranging payment for the debts in the way that creates the least negative impact on you. If not already - cut up your credit cards and delete them from your PayPal account, etc. Spend only what you actually have in cash and budgeted for. 