Even financially responsible people can fall on hard times. I found myself in a challenging situation when I lost my job in retail banking. I had emergency savings to fall back on, but I wasn't able to find another comparable position for several years after getting laid off. 

I had to slowly chip away at my savings until the situation became dire. If you find yourself in a similar position where you simply don't have enough money to go around, here are a few tips from my own experience.

• Cover the Basic Expenses Before Anything Else (Housing, power, gas to get to work... you get the idea)
• Request Extensions on Your Bills (it works...sometimes) (Cross your fingers your power isn't turned off in winter)
• Downsize and Sell Excess Stuff 
• Take Out New Debt Sparingly (Avoid this at all costs!)
• Look for Ways to Bring in More Money (Good luck with this one)