By Melissa Lambarena | NerdWallet

By now, the higher cost of goods and services may have prompted you to consider using buy now, pay later plans, credit cards or other options to cover everyday expenses. These options can be easy to turn to in a time of need, but doing so frequently could indicate trouble ahead.

If that’s your circumstance, you’ll want to have a plan long before your well of credit runs dry. By exploring community resources or seeking the help of experts, you may come up with a better solution that won’t derail your finances.

Here are some actions that can lessen reliance on credit for essential purchases.

1. Refresh your budget

Review debit and credit card statements to take note of all expenses, including debts. Look for opportunities to eliminate unnecessary purchases or switch to less costly alternatives, and explore options to lower interest rates on those debts. Contributing to an emergency fund — even just a little at a time, if you can spare it — can further prevent reliance on credit.

If these steps seem overwhelming or you need assistance, a credit counselor at an accredited nonprofit credit counseling agency can help.

“They can make recommendations on a line-item-by-line-item basis that can help consumers close their budget gaps,” says Barry Coleman, vice president of program management and education at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a nonprofit that provides assistance.

A credit counselor can also evaluate whether you qualify for a debt management plan that can consolidate eligible debts into a single payment with a lower interest rate, for a fee. With good enough credit, another option might be to use a balance transfer credit card, which lets you move high-interest debt onto a card with a 0% introductory APR for a certain period of time. Look for one that has no annual fee and a balance transfer fee of 3% or lower. Such fees are worth paying if they can save you money on interest over time.

2. Seek savings on food

If your income means you’re ineligible for assistance through federal or state-funded programs, you may still qualify for help through food banks or pantries. Some may have requirements, but they are typically for people who need help accessing food or a savings option that can offset the costs of other bills.

“We’ve heard from people facing hunger that increased prices for food, utility bills, child care and housing costs have exceeded their paychecks,” said Linda Nageotte, president and chief operating officer at Feeding America, a nonprofit hunger relief organization, in an email. “This causes households to make impossible choices about which expenses they can cover, and which they cannot.”

Related Articles

The end of Chevron deference is a ‘power shift’ for investors

More states enact salary transparency laws to fight gender, racial pay gaps

‘A bottomless pit’: How out-of-pocket TMJ costs drive patients into debt

Keeping up with the Joneses: What it might be costing Americans

Pay off debt or save? Expert tips to help you choose

You can find a food bank or pantry through an online search or Feeding America’s online directory, or by contacting 211 to get free assistance from United Way’s trained staff. United Way is a global nonprofit that addresses needs in communities by connecting people to resources. The organization’s staff can offer details about hours of operation for food banks or pantries, any requirements, available bus stops nearby or possible delivery options to your door in certain regions if you lack transportation. A credit counselor — if you’re using one for your finances — may also be able to alert you about local resources.

Some food pantries provide boxes with food, and some allow you to come in and grocery shop, says Heather Black, vice president of 211 system strategy at United Way Worldwide. Resources may not always be available or they may be limited, but it’s worth exploring what’s possible in your area.

Other ways to find food resources are through an online search for grocery store outlets, salvage stores or food rescue apps from supermarkets or restaurants. An app like Too Good To Go, for instance, offers food from restaurants at discounted prices in some cities if you’re willing to be flexible on the items.

3. Explore ways to lower the cost of bills

Comparison-shop for better prices, negotiate on the cost of bills when possible or seek assistance to bring down your costs. If they are available, United Way’s 211 may also direct you to resources that lower the cost of some bills.

Other actions that can make a difference include switching internet, cable, streaming or cell phone providers. And when it comes to saving on utilities, using LED light bulbs and programmable thermostats can help, as can fixing water leaks and simply turning off lights when leaving the room, according to Coleman.

4. Reduce transportation costs

If you drive a car, consider these tactics to lower costs:

Compare the cost of using public transportation to the cost of owning or leasing a car.
Shop around for better rates on auto insurance, ask about potential discounts, consider bundling insurance for added savings, or reduce unnecessary coverage on an older vehicle if it makes financial sense.
Carpool with others to save on gas.

5. Make a lifestyle change

If you’ve exhausted other options and money is still lacking, making a larger change to supplement your income can put you in a better position to avoid relying on credit. Potential changes may include seeking a raise, getting a new job or side job, taking on a roommate or a different option that works for you.

Melissa Lambarena writes for NerdWallet. Email: mlambarena@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @LissaLambarena.

The article 5 Ways to Avoid Relying on Credit for Everyday Purchases originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Meredith Blake, Greg Braxton, Matt Brennan, Tracy Brown, Maira Garcia and Robert Lloyd | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Every two years, athletes from around the globe gather to compete at the Olympic Games. And every two years, stories emerge that capture the world’s attention, from the tragic to the triumphant.

With the Summer Olympics set to begin in Paris on Friday, key storylines are already emerging.

Related Articles

Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics?

Paris Olympics playlist: 8 great French music acts you should hear today

From sharing a meal to having their families cheer: How Paris offers a 2nd chance for Tokyo Olympians

United States favored to top overall medal table at Paris Games. China may challenge for most gold

Are we approaching the ‘American decade’ of the Olympics?

There is Simone Biles’ much-anticipated return to Olympic gymnastics three years after she withdrew from the Tokyo Games. There is the question of how the wars in Ukraine and Gaza might disrupt the facade of international unity. There’s even concern about pollution in the River Seine, which may be too full of sewage to provide a safe venue for long-distance swimming events — though the Paris mayor took a dip recently to prove it was safe.

Whatever the Big Narrative of 2024 turns out to be, it will likely get the documentary treatment at some point in the future. The human drama of the Olympics — from the athletes who participate in them to the controversies that sometimes overshadow the competition — have been fodder for nonfiction filmmakers since at least 1912.

To help you get ready for the games, The Times TV team has compiled a list of Olympic-themed documentaries available to stream, including moving tales of human triumph and infuriating accounts of systemic corruption, and cautionary tales of nationalistic myth-making.

‘Simone Biles Rising’

When Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Games three years ago, citing a mental block known as “the twisties” that made it difficult for her to control her body in the air, it wasn’t clear whether the celebrated gymnast, then 24, would ever return to Olympic competition. Now 27, in a sport long dominated by teenage girls, she is poised to make a historic comeback at the Paris Games. The first two episodes of this four-part Netflix documentary, directed by Katie Walsh, follow Biles as she returns to the gym and gradually regains her bearings — with support from her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, family and teammates. The documentary looks at the connections between Biles’ psychological struggles and the sexual abuse and racism that she endured, and retraces the brutal history of a sport that can be as toxic as it is dazzling. Funny and thoughtful, Biles comes across as a relatable young woman who happens to be able to perform superhuman feats. Two additional episodes, coming this fall, will follow Biles in Paris. The end of Biles’ story has yet to be written, but whether she wins or loses at the games, she makes for a compelling subject. (Stream on Netflix.)  — Meredith Blake

U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, middle, and John Carlos raise their gloved fists in the Black Power salute during the U.S. national anthem after receiving their medals for first and third place in the men’s 200-meter event at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games on Oct. 16, 1968, in Mexico City. At left is Peter Norman of Australia, who took second place. (AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

‘Fists of Freedom: The Story of the ’68 Olympic Games’

The focus of this HBO documentary is on one of those electric — and controversial — moments in Olympic history. Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos staged a silent salute to Black Power by raising their Black-gloved fists on the victory stand. The athletes’ protest for social justice resulted in an iconic picture and sparked both positive and negative reaction while bringing the racial tension of American politics onto the international stage. The 1999 Peabody Award winner explores the fiery moment, and how it affected the careers of Smith and Carlos. (Stream on Max. ) — Greg Braxton

‘Visions of Eight’

This 1973 anthology film of the 1972 Munich Summer Game set an international group of directors, including Arthur Penn, Miloš Forman, John Schlesinger, Mai Zetterling and Kon Ichikawa, loose on the Olympics, each assigning themselves a subject and working with their own crews. This is less a traditional documentary than a collection of non-narrative tone poems, which abstract the spirit of the games rather than charting any individual story. Some focus on an individual sport, others explore a larger idea, as in Michael Pfleghar’s “The Women”; Yuri Ozerov’s “The Beginning,” which looks at athletes in the moments before they compete; and Claude Lelouch’s “The Losers,” which captures them in the immediate aftermath of their failure. For his segment on the men’s 100-meter finals, a race lasting “about 10 seconds,” Ichikawa employed 34 cameras and 20,000 feet of film. Forman’s comical look at the decathlon is scored with bell ringers and yodelers, while Schlesinger’s intense “The Longest” intermixes the marathon with the attack by Palestinian terrorists on the Israeli quarters in the Olympic Village. It streams as part of Criterion’s 53-film “100 Years of Olympic Films, 1912-2012,” which also includes Ichikawa’s great 1965 “Tokyo Olympiad.” (Stream on the Criterion Channel.) — Robert Lloyd

‘Olympia’

Leni Riefenstahl’s two-part documentary, chronicling the final games held before World War II, is a potent reminder of the power of the Olympic Movement— to whitewash human rights abuses, glamorize repressive regimes, soften dictators’ personas and generally use the International Olympic Committee’s stated mission of promoting “ethics and good governance in sport” to cover up their absence anywhere and everywhere else. After all, with its idolization of the athlete and its paean to the nobility of competition, the German filmmaker‘s kinesthetic epic of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, with its pioneering images of divers breaking the water and runners breaking the tape, can seem pleasantly distant from the circumstances of its making; who wouldn’t wish, in a world marked by economic desperation, social dislocation, technological revolution and authoritarian politics, to keep one’s eyes squarely on the court, ring or field? And yet to do so, as “Olympia” teaches us, is to risk overlooking the shadow of evil, Hitler’s or otherwise, hovering over the stands. Spectacle, the klieg light of the powerful since before even the ancient Olympics, is still more than capable of blinding us to the dark. (Stream on the Criterion Channel and YouTube.) — Matt Brennan

‘Icarus’

This 2017 Oscar winning documentary begins with one objective: Can filmmaker Bryan Fogel improve his performance in an amateur cycling race through the use of performance-enhancing drugs without it being detected? The point isn’t for him to win the race; it was to show how testing for PEDs remained inadequate, years after professional cycling was rocked by Lance Armstrong’s doping case. It leads Fogel to connect with Grigory Rodchenkov, a Russian scientist and then-director of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory, who creates a doping regimen for him, becoming friends in the process. In the months that follow, Rodchenkov moves to the center of the story as Russia’s state-sponsored doping program is uncovered and he provides incriminating evidence of the government’s involvement to the New York Times, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC. It’s a roller coaster of a film that led to Russia’s ban from Olympic competition and Rodchenkov being placed in witness protection. (Stream on Netflix.) — Maira Garcia

‘Dream On’

The U.S. women’s national basketball team will be competing for a record eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris. This three-part “30 for 30” doc, released in 2022, tells the story of the team that started that streak at the 1996 Atlanta games and whose success directly led to the formation of the WNBA. And it wasn’t as easy as that team’s 8-0 Olympic record might have you believe. “Dream On” chronicles how lackluster results at back-to-back major international competitions (bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Games and at the 1994 world championship) led to USA Basketball trying something different. With support from the NBA, which was interested in testing the waters for a potential women’s pro league, the organization assembled a women’s version of the Dream Team that trained and competed together for a grueling 14 months leading up to the 1996 games. The doc sheds light on the players’ experiences, personal hardships and more on their road to gold. With the WNBA’s surge in viewership and popularity this season, this is a great look at those who paved the way. (Stream on ESPN+.) — Tracy Brown

‘One Day in September’

This Oscar winning documentary was released a quarter century ago but remains tragically relevant. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, “ One Day in September” looks at the events of Sept. 5 and 6, 1972, when eight members of the terrorist group Black September took a group of Israeli athletes and coaches hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. Twenty-four hours later, 11 Israelis were dead along with a German police officer and five of the Palestinian attackers — an event that marked a bloody inflection point not only in the history of the Olympic Games but also the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to rage on decades later. With the brisk pace of a thriller, the film looks at how West German officials who had hoped to recast their country’s image at a time when the horrors of World War II remained vivid in the public imagination, instead bungled their response to the attacks — with tragic results. The documentary features extensive interviews with surviving family members and German officials, as well as Jamal al-Gashey, the last surviving member of the Black September group, who appears in shadow. (Stream on ScreenPix via YouTube.) — Meredith Blake

‘The Price of Gold’

There are few Olympic sagas more sordid — or more engrossing — than that of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, the American figure skaters whose rivalry erupted into one of the most notorious tabloid scandals of the 1990s. Directed by Nanette Burstein, this “30 for 30” film revisits the ordeal that began in January 1994 when Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee just weeks before the Lillehammer games. As the world soon learned, the attack was orchestrated by Harding’s husband, Jeff Gillooly, in a bid to elevate his wife’s Olympic prospects — and financial potential. “The Price of Gold” shrewdly explores how class, gender and body image played out in the Nancy versus Tonya narrative and how Harding, a powerful athlete from a blue-collar background, was often penalized for her aesthetic choices. Kerrigan did not participate in the documentary, which was released in 2014, but Harding did, and she comes across as sympathetic but also maddeningly evasive and defensive. A few years later “I, Tonya” would explore Harding’s story again, but with much less subtlety. (Stream on ESPN+.) — Meredith Blake

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.