What am I doing wrong? Constantly bankrupt

[AggroBuLLeT]

I just got this game. Playing sweden, over and over. I don't know how many restarts I did by now. I'm always losing money and go on a bankrupt loop. usually within the first 15 years. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I watched a ton of youtube videos about it and I do as they say, but nothing works. I never make any money, only losing.

I'm frustrated. Never had such problem with a paradox game. I'm losing motivation quickly. Furthermore, many videos contradict each other. One guy says, spam civs (I forgot the ingame term, I think private sector?) and others say to spam tools and iron and logging instead (as sweden). I tried both. I always lose money.

What am I doing wrong?

[vortex_13]

Sounds like you're probably building too many construction sectors. Those cost quite a bit. Also, don't "spam" anything. You need to look at what you need. You can't just build random stuff.

[ΆΡΗΣ]

read those 1st messages they're not there for looks

[Eapple]

This is a tip that has nothing to do with when and what to construct or spend on.

STAR YOUR GOODS. If you go to the market screen and click on a good, in the top right of that menu you can star it to add it to your outliner on the right. Star important goods like grain, wood, iron, tools, and coal. Optionally government goods like guns and paper.

This is super important because keeping constant track of the price of these goods will tell you what you need to build in the near future. It's not enough to just "spam" any given building; REACTING to what your economy needs will be much more efficient.

Doing this has helped me a lot with my gameplay.

Also, set government wages in the budget screen to low or very low. It doesn't lower your bureaucracy, authority, or any other meaningful values except prestige. It's just really effective at saving cash.