Financial stress comes in many forms. From short-term worries about paying bills to long-term concerns, like saving for retirement, there’s a lot about money that than keep you up at night. But since worrying never fixed anything, let’s look at some constructive ways to manage your financial stress.
Recognize What You Can Control
Inflation? Recession? Crypto crash? With the world’s news as our fingertips all hours of the day and night, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the ups and down of the economy. But all those things are outside your control. Stay focused on what you can control in your day-to -day life. Your income, spending habits, savings goals and use of credit all have a bigger direct impact than the ups and downs of the economy at large.
Assess Your Finances
Fear of the unknown is a major source of stress, and it’s no different when it comes to financial stress. If you’re not sure how much money you have coming in and going out, how much total debt you carry and how much money you have saved (or need to), you’re going to feel stressed.
Take some time to sit down and review all your income, expenses, debts, and bank balances. This will give you an accurate snapshot of your current financial situation and show you where you can make improvements. If this task feels overwhelming, or you need some help figuring it all out, talk with one of our certified credit counselors, or take our self-guided online counseling. We’ll walk you through it, step-by-step.
Bring In Extra Money
Nothing can ease feelings of financial stress like having a little extra cash coming in. Whether to make paying bills easier or start building savings, even a few hundred extra dollars a month can make you feel more financially secure. And there are more ways than ever to make that happen.
Start by seeing if overtime hours are available in your current position or ask about getting a raise. You can also consider starting a side hustle, doing gig work, or freelancing. And don’t forget, you can make some quick cash by holding a garage sale or selling your unused clothing and other items through apps like Depop and Poshmark.
Talk to Someone
When you’re feeling stressed or anxious about money, keeping those feelings bottled up only compounds the problem. Talk with a trusted friend or family member about your financial concerns. Chances are, they have experienced the same feelings at some point. They may be able to share solutions they used to get to a better place. You may also choose to talk with a certified credit counselor or licensed financial planner to help you stabilize your financial situation and plan for the future.
Start Saving
One of the most important lessons to take away from the pandemic is that big changes can happen very quickly. Saving money to prepare for major life events such as major illness or job loss can help ease the financial stress of an uncertain future. You can use our emergency savings calculator to see exactly what your goal should be.
In general, we recommend most people work toward savings 3-6 months of living expenses. If that total seems overwhelming, shoot for an initial savings goal of $500 and keep building from there. Here are several ideas for how to quickly save for an emergency fund.
