Have you experienced waking up in the middle of the night and think about money matters? What begins as a passing thought to remember to pay the bills can suddenly leave you worried about how you’d pay those bills if you lost your job, how to be debt free, or how to stretch your budget for the month. It has been happening to me for the last couple of weeks. I’ve researched for it and financial anxiety and stress comes up. How would you know if you are suffering from financial anxiety and how do you regain control?
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If this has only just started over the last few weeks I would suggest this might just be a manifestation of an underlying stress situation that has been brought on by, and gradually building as a result of, the constant uncertainty surrounding us all in these pandemic times.
I don’t know where you live but pretty much the whole world is living under uncertainty and fears for one’s health and livelihood. We are constantly bombarded with news of Covid statistics, economic downturns, job losses, bankruptcies, etc that it is little wonder that all the things we generally take for granted as safe and dependable no longer feel quite so stable. That can be very unsettling without any specific cause.
If that is the case then it is not surprising that this general stress manifests itself in concrete terms as concerns about financial stability since our financial situation is one of the most vulnerable pillars of our security.
Just some thoughts.
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You are not alone we’ve all been there before: You wake up in the middle of the night, while you try to get back to sleep, your mind veers to the topic of money. When i was at your place, i followed four steps to come out of this situation.
1 Review(all your your bills and expenditures)
2 Reduce( each bill one by one)
3 Pay off(on priority basis)
4 Repeat
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Money is something one cannot be calm about all the time, that’s reality!
But with good management of your funds, you can lower down the risks and tensions attached to it, Just be good at planning stuff.
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Money is something which everybody stresses about. So don’t panic. Keep yourself calm and work on your goals.
I honestly think money stress problems are more about not having control of the money you’ve got, rather than not having enough money. This is why even people with apparently good jobs and plenty of wealth and lots of nice possessions get stressed over money.
Sometimes we feel the solution is to get more money. We should be putting more effort into controlling money, not getting more.
This is why saving is good. Let’s face it, nobody ever got rich through saving money, but if you can control what you spend, you are controlling the money stress, even though it doesn’t really matter how much or how little you save. Maybe people have other ways they personally have found to control money stress?
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That is a lesson that suits trading, too!
Hi,
I have spent a great deal of time on this, both personally, and with other people (friends, colleagues, mentees). My mother had a care free retirement. My father outlived her, they owned their own house and car, they spent less than their state pension and have over a year’s worth of expenditure cash on deposit. To an outside observer, they wanted for nothing. But my mother always worried about money. Perhaps because earlier in life she suffered a nervous breakdown the first time a shop keeper suggested she take credit to buy a school uniform. In those days, debt was taboo. Later in life, I used to ask Mum “how much is enough”, knowing she had four adult children all capable of managing their own financial affairs. She could never answer me but I figured out (and confided in my father) that Mum seemed not to be worried when she knew she had more than £10,000 in the bank.
Some years ago I started mentoring a few colleagues on the subject of property investment (no fees - just out of interest), and one of the questions on the initial discovery documentation was “how much is enough”, which led them into a necessary budget review of their finances and a statement of their position of financial comfort in terms of “if you lost your primary source of income tomorrow, how long will you be able to sustain your standard of living without major changes or impact?” At the time, Gordon Brown had famously commented that millions of people in the UK did not have £200 to their names, and more than half of the population was six weeks away from bankruptcy.
There is no panacea for immediate relief, but the first thing to do is to realise how much you control and how much is outside your control. For many people, a major strain is paying off the minimum payment on credit card or loan debt. This is a very difficult situation from which to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but to be honest, it helps if you have been there before. I went technically bankrupt in my thirties, owing about half a UK house, and chose to carry the debt. It took me six years and an overseas (tax free) assignment to get back on my feet, but it changed me forever. Not only did I manage to save at an enormous rate once I was out of net debt, but I worried far less about debt because I had experienced the loss of my primary residence, and had to borrow from family members (my uncle charged me 18% per year) to get back on my feet without going through bankruptcy.
Whether or not people are really in a mess, I always ask them to target savings on a monthly basis of 10% of earnings. To most people that sounds impossible, but they still buy coffee at £3 a time and refuse to make sandwiches to take to work. Of course, if you rely on the state, this is probably impossible. I am talking about being able to at least do some paid work.
Bottom line is that you cannot improve what you cannot measure. So measuring how much you spend on each bill every month is absolutely essential. Some of my favourite topics for improvement are: smoking, drinking, eating out, take away food, non-essential clothes, presents (for self or others), changing suppliers of services (gas, electric, telephone, internet), using public services (library for internet). The list is endless.
I hope this has been of some use. Try to differentiate between those costs you can control, and those you cannot. For those you cannot, seek help from others. Never be afraid to ask for help. You may be surprised how many people can help you with money, goods, services or charitable time. Best of luck with your anxiety. And only talk with people who recognise it is an illness that can make you physically ill. About half the world will tell you to “snap out if it”. Avoid them like the plague - they are no good to you or themselves.
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If you’re worried about money, you’re not alone. Many of us, from all over the world and from all walks of life, are having to deal with financial stress and uncertainty at this difficult time. Whether your problems stem from a loss of work, escalating debt, unexpected expenses, or a combination of factors, financial worry is one of the most common stressors in modern life. Even before the global coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic fallout, an American Psychological Association (APA) study found that 72% of Americans feel stressed about money at least some of the time. The recent economic difficulties mean that even more of us are now facing financial struggles and hardship. for more information regarding better investment returns do follow our website investmarket.in
This is exactly what one needs to do.
Don’t worry because you are not alone. We all have been there and that’s how reality looks like. Once you get used to such situations, it will all vanish and there will be nothing that would bother you.
Some people don’t like Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University but it has helped me a lot. His videos are on youtube. I was in the same boat as you a few years back but his videos changed things for me on how I view money and manage my finances.