Are you ready to imagine yourself without financial stress? I recently wrote about imagining yourself without anxiety, and I realized that one of the things that people worry a lot about is money. In fact, financial stresses are responsible for creating people who are workaholics who never feel like they have enough money. It’s responsible for marital fights and strife. And financial stress can even lead to other forms of anxiety or depression. The good news is that there are ways you can take control of your finances so that you don’t stress about it so much. You can create a buffer and breathing room to handle emergencies that come your way.
Simplify and Downsize
If you’re stressing about money, it helps to take inventory of all the stuff in your life and look for ways to simplify it, and then downsize. If you have a storage unit filled with things that won’t fit in your home, maybe it’s time to sell those things off and close out the storage unit. That monthly cost can save you a lot of time. Some storage units cost as much as $200/month or more. Plus, you can set aside more for savings by selling off the things you have in storage. This can be a hard task emotionally but saying goodbye to stuff helps set you up for more peace in your finances.
Additionally, if you’re still hanging onto the big house even though it’s sucking you dry financially, there is no shame in selling it and moving into something smaller. This smaller living means you’ll have to downsize even more of your belongings, but sometimes we hang onto things for no real reason other than fear.
Use a Budget Each Month
You’d be shocked at the number of people who don’t plan their budgets each month. This lack of planning creates a lot of turmoil when big things come up. Additionally, your money will just seem to disappear without you really knowing where it went. Maybe those visits to the coffee shop in the morning are adding up. Perhaps you go out to eat more often than you’d like. Maybe there is a subscription you no longer use. Without putting it down on paper and planning ahead for it, there is no way to know what things you will keep paying for and which ones you can say goodbye to.
Set Aside Money for Emergencies
Without a plan there is no buffer room to handle emergencies that come when all the money’s gone. How will you pay that vet bill? What happens if someone has to go to the ER? All these last-minute urgent needs must be paid somehow. By using some of your money each month to put in a savings account, you’ll have the extra money when you need it. In the event that even that savings is not quite enough, you can easily search the internet for personal loans in Springfield, MO, Austin, TX, or wherever you happen to live. There are short-term and low payment options that can help you through any minor emergency.
Spend Time Earning Extra Income
If you spend hours a night binge-watching Netflix or Hulu, you have the time to earn some extra income. Sometimes, just a few hundred extra dollars a month can give you the financial breathing room you need to feel less stressed about money. You can instead invest your time into a side hustle like writing, graphic design, or doing gig work like Uber or DoorDash. With that extra money in hand, you’ll be able to pay off debt if needed or make wise investments.
Start Investing
People often experience financial stress because they have nothing saved for the future. While a short-term savings account is good for emergencies when you need the cash right away, investing helps you prepare for retirement and other financial goals. There are plenty of ways to invest. There is no one right way to do it. Some investments are more risky and if you’re trying to reduce stress, might not be good fits for you. One popular, but very risky investment strategy involves Cryptocurrency. You can also dip your toes in the stock market using popular apps like Robinhood. If your company has a 401K, that tends to be lower risk and can help you save for the future.
Another American cut and paste article, but still applies here and probably more now.