Coping With Financial Stress

By Dawn Kellogg

Life is expensive and it can be easy to get stressed about money. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, 72% of adults admit to feeling stressed about money. Even in the best of times, things happen: car or home repairs, hospital or vet bills, or back to school costs… There’s always something that you’re going to need or want to spend money on.

Here are some tips and tricks for handling the stress and taking back control of your finances.

Don’t Ignore Your Financial Challenges – Embrace Them!

Do the math and figure out how big of a financial bind you’re in.  Write down your biggest money challenges. Determine your amount of debt, your cashflow, and when your bills are due. Your problems might not be as bad as you think – or they could be worse. One thing is true: you‘ll never get out of a financial hole without a complete understanding of how deep it is. Once you have all the facts, you can create a game plan on how move forward.

Create a Plan

It’s important to have a plan. Start by creating a budget or adjusting the one you have. Make sure that everyone in your household is on board. Many people try and tackle financial issues on their own – without adding concerns to other family members. Discover opportunities to make changes and cuts to your expenses. Small changes add up. You may not be able to cut one expense by a large amount, but you may be able to find several that you can cut by a little amount each. Your budget will change according to your needs. Remember that your budget is a working document that will need to be revisited periodically. Plan on modifying it as you see fit.

Stay Positive

Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t keep up with the Joneses. Focus on the positive. If you’re covering your basic needs (rent/mortgage, feeding your family, etc.) you’re already doing great! You may not be setting aside as much as you want, but you are staying afloat. If you are having difficulty paying your bills, contact your financial institution, credit card company, or utility provider and explain the situation. They may be able to help by setting up a payment plan for you.

Track Your Spending Habits

Are you spending money on things that offer little long-term ROI? Things like having food delivered when you could be picking it up yourself or making it at home, or impulse buying? Do you order things online that you want, but don’t necessarily need? Take a good, honest look at your spending patterns and work to develop better healthier financial habits.

Build an Emergency Fund

Setting aside money for emergencies – car or home repairs, job loss, illness – can go a long way in decreasing financial stress. A good rule of thumb for emergency funds is that you should ultimately be able to cover three to six months of expenses. However, don’t get too hung up on this amount. The main idea is that you regularly set money aside. 

Plan to Pay Off Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is one of the most common reasons for financial stress. It gets in the way of your savings goals. If you have balances on multiple cards, there are a couple of ways that you can strategize to pay off this debt: the snowball method (paying off your debts, one-by-one, focusing on the smallest first); or the high-rate method (focusing on the cards with the highest interest rate first). Choose a payment strategy and stick with it.

Take Care of Yourself

Financial problems can affect your sleep, energy levels, and self-esteem taking a toll on your mental and physical health. Healthy physical habits will add to your ability to stay calm and focused to find solutions to your financial problems. Taking daily walks or going for a bike ride cost nothing and will do wonders for your mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.

Give Yourself Some Wiggle Room

There may be some small luxuries that you just can’t live without — daily coffee, or a regular date night. Think about making that daily coffee a weekly treat, or have a date night once a month instead of every week.

Consider Getting Professional Help

The Summit partners with GreenPath Financial Services, offering members free financial counseling, guidance, and educational resources. It’s a great way to get started on the road to financial health. Click here to get started today.

Remember: You are Not Alone!

Financial anxiety is very common. Also, remember that it’s impossible to fix financial problems overnight, but taking steps to get on the right financial track will help to ease some of the stress that you may be feeling.