Possibly building too much too quick.
Keep things simple and small to begin with helps. If your crime rate is high then there will be lots of robberies, counter that with a police station. Same goes for fires, plonk down a firehouse.
Keep monitoring your traffic flow, deal with your RCI demands (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) as the level of demand rises, but don't zone off hundreds of blocks, just do small sections, wait to see how it affects the demand and then either zone more or leave it.
Couple of beginner tips which helped me;
The Space Bar is your Friend - Pause the game often while you lay roads, zones & checking info so that the sim stops and you're not swimming against the tide.
Red traffic areas aren't necessarily bad, it just means there's a high volume of traffic on that road. As long as you deal with congestion, then red zones are ok.
To save cash, turn down your funding to water and electric at the start. You'll output more than your city will initially need, so save money by reducing your outgoings. No point generating 50Mw of power when your city only needs 20, but tweak it up when needed.
