Money recovery
Divorce, a loss, a job change or a return home can reshape your money faster than you can plan for. Recovery is not a single heroic act — it is a series of organized, repeatable steps. This is where to begin.
Illustrative example — not personal advice
Suppose your monthly take-home pay is $2,400. Essential bills — housing, utilities, food, transport and minimum debt payments — total $1,800. That leaves $600, or about $139 a week, for everything else.
$2,400 − $1,800 = $600. Then $600 ÷ 4.3 ≈ $139 per week. Writing $139 at the top of the calendar turns a vague feeling of stress into a specific number you can work with. If the number is negative, that is important information too — it tells you what to address first.
Seven organizing steps
Write down what is actually in each account and what comes in this month. Then list every bill due and its date. You are not judging any number — you are establishing a truthful starting point.
This week: Write one page: cash in, bills due, dates.
Housing, utilities, food, transport, medication, childcare, minimum debt payments. These come first, in that rough order, before anything discretionary. Decide them once, so you are not re-deciding every day.
This week: Highlight the essentials on your list and total them.
Monthly totals hide trouble; weeks reveal it. Take your monthly variable money (income minus essentials and fixed bills) and divide it by 4.3. That weekly figure goes on your calendar.
This week: Put this week's number on a visible calendar.
You are entitled to free reports from the three national credit reporting companies via AnnualCreditReport.com. Read them for errors, unfamiliar accounts and items you can dispute — you are not asked to fix them in one sitting.
This week: Request one report and skim it for anything unfamiliar.
Use a simple folder or drive with subfolders: income, housing, debt, insurance, legal, tax. Scan or photograph documents once and store them once. Organization reduces both confusion and cost.
This week: Create five folders and move one stack of paper.
Coaching can help you prepare questions but does not replace a licensed professional. Write down what you need to know and take it with you — you do not need to arrive with answers, only with clear questions.
This week: Write three questions you would ask an adviser.
When the present is steady — essentials covered, weekly number known, records organized — you can consider what is next. Not before.
This week: Choose the first area to rebuild after essentials are steady.
Budgeting, credit and debt guides from the federal consumer agency.
AnnualCreditReport.comThe federally authorized site for free credit reports.
SBALocal assistance and business guidance if you move toward income options.
Educational content only. Lorinthian Jones Coaching is not affiliated with these organizations, does not provide credit repair, and any tax, investment or legal decisions should be made with a licensed professional.
Money recovery support
Request information about money recovery coaching and the Money Recovery Desk Kit. Tell us which of the seven steps feels hardest — that is where we start.
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