Many Americans aren’t optimistic about their financial situation this year.

Unless it's a medical issue and a financial scam, people generally need to blame themselves in order to fix their financial issues. Financial restraint is most important in good economic times, because then you have reserves set aside and low debt in bad economic times. Inflation can be a reason somebody is struggling, but it's root cause is prior or continued poor money management.

I've dealt with this. As soon as a took responsibility for my idiocy (fortunately, I was in my late 20's) I was able to correct my decisions, and start a better financial foundation for myself. Haven't had a problem since.