Ask Brianna: How can I finally tackle my finances?

Money is so tied to emotion that Archuleta, a licensed marriage and family therapist, is part of a movement to develop the new field of financial therapy.

When you consider your credit card debt, student loans and lack of emergency or retirement savings all at once, they seem like big, scary, insurmountable problems.

Break them down into separate, small tasks, says Sophia Bera, a financial planner and founder of Gen Y Planning in Austin, Texas.

[...] stop or reduce your credit card use and set up a monthly automatic transfer to a savings account so you can build an emergency fund for unexpected costs.

[...] you can transfer just $5 to your savings account each month, says Erik Kroll, a financial planner at Hilltop Financial Advisors in Milwaukee.

Experts can step in when you're not sure how to take the next steps to pay off your credit card debt, lower your student loan payments or save for retirement.

Set up a consultation with a certified credit counselor to get an overview of your financial situation.

On a debt management plan, you'll pay the agency a monthly fee, and in exchange it will work with your creditors to lower your interest rates and monthly payments.

"Many people feel like they should be able to 'do all this money stuff themselves,' but it can be really intimidating to get started on your own," Bera says.