The new jobs report is bad news. Here’s some advice to make it through a tough financial season.

Chances are that the current U.S. economic crisis and the turmoil in the financial markets are messing with your life. According to the most recent figures from the Labor Department, there were 131,000 jobs lost in the United States in July alone. The unemployment rate remains at 9.5%. People are hurting.

Maybe you are right out of college and can’t find a job. Seventy-three percent of today’s graduating seniors will leave college with student loan debt, averaging about $23,000. The average outstanding balance on undergraduate credit cards is $2,169. Nearly half of students graduating this spring are expected to move back home, held back by the economy in establishing lives of financial independence.

Perhaps you were laid off from a job. The timing couldn’t be worse with a new baby or a new mortgage.

Many twentysomethings listened to the conventional wisdom of diligently putting money into a 401(k), or IRA, or in stock investments outside of retirement accounts. But now you are beginning to wonder where these investments are going and when the declines will stop. They say it will all eventually work out, but seriously when is it going to stop?

All of the above is the “now” problem. Meanwhile, a larger “later” problem is brewing. The clock keeping tally of America’s national debt has officially run out of digits to record the soaring figure. The U.S. National Debt Clock was installed in Manhattan in 1989 to highlight what was then a $2.7 trillion debt. But when the total crept over 10 trillion, owners of the clock realized they needed another digit—a fourteenth digit, to be exact. Who’s going to inherit all that national debt? You!

Regardless of where you find yourself, you may be feeling the brunt of the economic crisis on all sides. You probably feel helpless and outraged—and that’s true whether you have a job or not.

On a purely practical level, there are several things you can do to help dissipate the financial anxiety and struggle of the current economic crisis including:

1. Do a budget. By making a budget, you will become aware of where you are spending money, how much you owe and where you may need to cut back. CNN Money created an online budget generator that allows you to plug in every aspect of your finances and caluculate what’s going where—and what should stop going where. (http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/budget101/budget_101.jsp)

2. Curb credit card use. Just because you have credit available doesn’t mean you should be using it, so start paying with cash more often than credit cards. This will help you feel more in control of your finances and save you from receiving a large bill at the end of the month that you may not be able to pay in full, and therefore fall deeper behind.

3. Don’t stress over what you can’t control. Just as you can’t control if it’s going to rain tomorrow, you can’t control if the $800 billion bailout package is going to improve the economy. What you can control, however, are your own finances, which will help build confidence and reduce stress. Stop stressing about stuff you can’t control; focus on the things you can.

4. If you have one, be glad for your job. Maybe you hate your job, and it’s not what you want to do long term. The good news is that you do in fact have a job when many people don’t. This may not be the best time to quit your current job and pursue other ambitions. It’s all a matter of timing. Keep the job, do it well, be thankful and pursue your other ambitions on the side for now.

5. Place a priority on saving. You’ve heard the phrase “save for a rainy day,” right? It’s raining! If you’ve been living from check to check and maxing out your credit cards, you’re in trouble. If I could convince you of just one financial principle, it would be this: Save a minimum of 10 percent from every paycheck, until the day you retire. Make sacrifices wherever you can, and live within your means.

6. Work together. Twentysomethings are masters of collaboration and social networking. Apply this mentality to dealing with the present economic crisis. Whether it’s your neighborhood, church small group or a Facebook group, form networks where people can pool ideas, information, resources and possessions to help each other out. Such networks could also pool resources of compassion to help others in the community in dire need.

7. Apply truth. There’s a spiritual principle that says “you reap what you sow.” If you sow a life of dependency upon financial and career success as a source of identity, security, peace and fulfillment, then you will reap the volatility of these attachments deep in your soul. Markets fluctuate positively and negatively, stocks rise and fall; companies are born and die; jobs are created and dissolved; 401(k)s go up, go down and sometimes go away altogether; homes are bought and go into foreclosure—as they say, “it is what it is.” Even if you are responsible with your own finances, there are many things still left out of your control.

Jesus said that His peace is “not as the world gives.” In other words, the peace of God is not contingent upon circumstances. God’s peace is never threatened or diminished by economic conditions. You can experience the present reality of the Kingdom of God even if you lose your job, watch your 401(k) or other investments decrease in dollar value, or are forced to move back home. As you become more familiar with the presence of God within you, allow the stresses of daily life, including ways you are negatively affected by the economic crisis, to prompt you back to that place of awareness, allowance and reliance upon the Kingdom of God.

Jim Palmer is the author of Divine Nobodies and Wide Open Spaces. You can find him atDivineNobodies.com, and on Facebook and Twitter. 

Dave Ramsey says our finance choices can be moral—or can trap us.

There are those who believe finance is merely an exact mathematical science. In fact, finance is an exact mathematical science—until a human touches it. Personal finance is who you are. Your personal, philosophical and emotional problems, and strengths will be reflected in your use of money. If you are disciplined, you can be a good saver. If you are selfish or self-centered, you will surround yourself with expensive toys you cannot afford.

The character of money

Larry Burkett, a noted author on this subject, says money problems are normally not the real problem but instead are only the symptom of a personal shortfall. An extreme amount of money or extreme lack of it magnifies character. A person not totally committed to honesty will tell white lies and sometimes even commit fraud by lying on a loan application when money is tight.

In his sermon “A Life Above the Ordinary,” Doug Parsons tells an interesting story about character. One of the richest men in America owned a huge company. This gentleman pointed out a low-level manager to his upper-level staff. The owner noticed the young man because of his work ethic and talent, and commented that this young man would be a regional manager long before his time. Sure enough, the young man was promoted up through the ranks to the point that his next promotion was to be regional manager. When the owner became aware of this, he flew down to personally give the young man the promotion over lunch.

On the big day, as they were going through the cafeteria-style line for lunch, the owner noticed that the young man deliberately hid a 1-cent pat of butter under his roll so as not to be charged for it. The lunch went fine—except that no promotion was given—and when the owner returned to his offices, he had the young man fired.

A close friend of mine suggested that such an extreme action was a bit severe and presumptuous. Whatever the other circumstances, the point is that the owner understood that the young man’s character flaw of dishonesty would be magnified under pressure and, like a weak spot in an inner tube, would eventually blow out.

Independent of what?

Many Americans have identified a concept in the last 30 years, something we all strive for: financial independence. Independent from what? Can you gain enough money to never have to worry again? Can you gain enough money that you can protect your family from injury or sickness? Can you accumulate enough money to be guaranteed you won’t lose everything due to war, famine or the collapse of financial markets? I’ve never heard of anyone who could hoard this much money.

You can never be totally independent. Money is active, and you must keep managing it and moving it, no matter how much you attain. You should handle your money well and try to gain as much as you are able, but this pursuit should not be all-consuming. You must be careful of spending all your energy and time trying to reach “financial independence” because this place is as nonexistent as the golden calf the Israelites worshiped.

The dirty word

We have discussed how the strengths and weaknesses in your life will affect your finances, but we cannot leave that subject without dealing with one of life’s dirtiest words—discipline. You will have conflict, worry, shortages and a general lack of fun until you achieve some discipline in the way you handle your funds. You don’t have to run or live in a financial boot camp, but you must start to think before you swipe that card. You must begin to look at your finances differently than how you have in the past. You must recognize that you need to bring your finances totally under your control.

To give or not to give?

The last spiritual aspect you must understand is farming. No farmer has ever grown a crop without planting some seed. Personal growth requires that you give money away. The institutions to which you give will survive if you don’t give, but you will have missed an opportunity to benefit. If you feel like you don’t have enough to give, start by giving small amounts and by donating your time. You can always give something.You need to plant the seed of self-growth, and you can do this only by giving. I meet very few well-balanced, happy, healthy, wealthy people who don’t give money away.

You must, however, beware whom you give to and what they do with the money. You must be responsible with your giving. John Wesley said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” Giving helps us keep proper priorities in our lives. It is essential to good money management.

This article originally appeared in RELEVANT.