When you’re behind on bills and running on stress fumes, the last thing you need is a complicated app or 12-tab spreadsheet. What you need is mental clarity.

The simplest solution? Go paper-first. Write your income and expenses on a basic whiteboard you can see every day. Or grab a notebook and break it into just two columns: what’s coming in and what’s going out.

Sticky notes work too. Heck, even a napkin is better than freezing up because the “real” tools feel too overwhelming.

When survival mode hits, clarity beats features. Once you’ve got the hang of this, you can graduate to a full strategy:

How to Build a Realistic Budget When You’re Already Behind on Bills