The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 plus 4 letter word MADE ENDS MEET
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
M
A
D
E
E
N
D
S
M
E
E
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "dealt with financial difficulty" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case dealt with financial difficulty = made ends meet.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.