Are you fairly new to the diagnosis? There is a whole number of support sites and self-help books dealing specifically with handling bipolar episodes. I can't think of a good book of the top of my head, but you should read at least five anyway, hopefully more, and hopefully on an ongoing basis, so you're sure to come to one that 'clicks' for you. You can start with 'Bipolar Disorder for Dummies', for example. Other resources are DBSA, of course, and you can also try the BP magazine (bphope.com), which offers a lot of really helpful hands-on advice.
Most of these resources will lay out a detailed example of an 'emergency plan' for dealing with an upcoming episode, which will include a list of symptoms to look for (both you and others around you), and the precise steps to take when the criteria are met for initiating action. You have to decide what the action is (see a doctor, up meds, whatever). Very often, and certainly for people for whom mania manifests through damaging spending, this includes handing over the control over your finances to others. This is standard advice, and of course, you do that before you get sick. The steps of the plan will differ for manic vs depressive vs mixed episode, and with severity, but the plan needs to be made while you are well, with buy-in from you and people on whose help you will be relying on. Then it's a good idea to sign and date the document (and keep a copy for yourself), because it wouldn't be unheard of if you questioned its authenticity while in the middle of an episode. This is all stuff countless people have struggled with, and the above measures are a product of a lot of common trial-and-error experience. Many, many people have willingly surrendered control of their finances precisely to prevent what you are now dealing with.
Another point I want to make is that you should not discount a trip to the hospital. If you were able to do that much damage, you were so gone that you should have been in the hospital NO DOUBT. The hospital is not to ride out the episode, it's about getting immediate treatment so that you don't have to ride it out, so that it doesn't get worse, so that the possible later depressive episode is not as severe, and so that everything, including your earning potential, goes back to normal as soon as possible. This is what the hospital is about. I can't speak of what it's like, and I assume that it can't be fun, but I have a friend who went to the hospital for a debilitating depression, got diagnosed (bipolar II), treated, discharged, and was back at work all within a month. It can be really good for you.
I wish you best luck.