When you’re dealing with a drug addiction, it’s easy to see how this can take a toll on your health and well-being. What many people don’t realize about drug addiction is that it can literally ravish your financial standing and cause you to deal with money problems that you’ve probably never faced before. Many drug addicts are so broke that they are forced to live with friends, family and even on the street. Overcoming and being treated for a drug addiction is crucial to stopping the vicious cycle of being paid and spending that money on drugs, but work needs to be done afterwards to ensure that your finances fall back on track.
Why Finances Can Be a Problem After Drug Addiction
There’s a pretty good chance that if you were once addicted to drugs, that you spent a good majority of your income on the drugs that were being used. Whether these includes illegal street drugs or prescription drugs, the price you paid for drugs was probably extravagant and exhausted all of your finances in practically no time. Other people with addiction problems borrowed money from friends, family or even lenders so that they could keep up with their addiction. This results in having to pay back all of these people so that your credit isn’t destroyed in the process.
Where to Start
The best thing to start with is to stop the vicious cycle of spending your income on drugs. If you haven’t already gone for drug treatment, now is the time to do so. If you have gone for treatment but are relapsing, it’s crucial that you seek help as soon as feasibly possible. Next, you’ll want to start by taking account of all of your finances and bills. If need be, rely on government assistance programs so that you can get yourself back on your feet. For example, staying in a halfway house after drug treatment is often free or incredibly low cost, so you will have the opportunity to save up money while staying there.
Understanding Relapse
Many people believe that relapsing is part of overcoming a drug addiction. Understand that relapsing can be long-term and short-term. If you’re noticing that you’re beginning to relapse, seek help right away so that you do not go back down the path where you’re spending all of your money on drugs. Most drug treatment programs will prepare individuals for relapse and what they need to do in order to get out of the addiction quickly once relapse occurs.
Working with a Financial Adviser
Financial advisers often charge for their services, but they can be a viable option for those who have had their finances ravished by a drug addiction. The adviser is going to be the one to help you work through the income you’re currently earning and then put some towards renting an apartment or buying a home. They can also help with investing, which is crucial if you are starting out with a small amount of money and need it to grow as quickly as possible.
Working and Assistance
It is essential that you work after coming out of a drug addiction. This is because you will probably not have much income coming in and will need the money to continue your life and begin living a life that is drug-free. While many jobs do background checks, it is best to be totally honest about your past so that nothing comes up as a surprise when the company is running a background check. If you’ve had issues with drugs before, many government assistance programs will not only help you financially, but they will help with housing as well as helping to get you a job that provides a regular income for you. Most drug treatment programs will automatically sign you up for this type of help, but if they do not, it is important that you look at what is readily available to you so that you can take advantage of this to get back on your feet.
Drug addictions can be a major problem because it affects your health and your entire life. You will also find that after having an addiction problem, it’s difficult for you to get back to where you’re living a financially stable life. In order for you to do this, it is important that you work diligently on your finances right after coming out of treatment. This involves finding work, getting help from both a financial adviser and government addiction programs as well as asking for help when and where you need it. If you have a lot of debt that has accumulated because of a drug addiction problem, you might also want to think about working with a debt consolidation firm so that they can get it to where you either owe nothing or you owe a lot less than what you might have if you had never contacted them. Now is the time to get your life back and know that you’ll be back on your feet in no time.
