Financial anxiety is something a lot of Americans report experiencing. With prices on the rise, life without a monthly budget is a guaranteed way to run into financial trouble. Once we start to associate negative feelings like avoidance and stress with managing our finances, it turns into full-blown money anxiety.
When it comes to a budget, the word itself can leave a bad taste in the mouths of those who don't find budgeting necessary. Yet, all hope is not lost! You can not only overcome your financial anxiety and eliminate financial troubles, but you can start to live life on your own terms.
By the end of this post, you’ll learn what is financial anxiety and 10 ways to manage your financial stress (without counting every penny).
The following is a guest post by Rebekah Gamble is the creator of Blissfulwallet.com, a blog centered on basic financial literacy tips and affordable ways to practice self-care. With graduation approaching, she’s preparing for life after college one blog post at a time. Enjoy!
What is financial anxiety?
Financial anxiety can occur when you feel stress, worry, or mood swings when it comes to money.
Financial anxiety can look like not paying bills on time, not saving for the future, and letting others dictate your money decisions. When you lose trust in your ability to make the right choices, deciding anything related to money becomes stressful.
A few symptoms of financial anxiety
- Avoidance
- Stress
- Over-eating/under-eating
- Irritation
- Overspending
- Scarcity mindset
- Feeling uneasy over having money
After defining what financial anxiety is you can start to reflect and see how it affects your own life.
Usually, we only think of rumination or butterflies in our stomachs but stressing over money can look different for each of us. Even if your particular symptom is not included in the list, it does not invalidate your feelings.
What causes financial anxiety?
There are various reasons why we experience financial anxiety including not using a monthly expense tracker, living above our means, irresponsible credit usage, trouble paying bills, and overwhelming debt.
Take a moment and think over your own lifestyle.
Is it the bills that are sitting on the table that make you uncomfortable or is it the idea of the future? Once you pinpoint what is bothering you it becomes easier to implement new coping mechanisms for dealing with financial stress.
How do I stop stressing about money?
Routinely create a monthly budget
A monthly budget allows you to plan ahead for any spending, saving, and investing you’d like to do. My favorite budget style is the “no budget-budget” for a hands-off approach to managing your money.
Create an occasional monthly budget
I use a monthly budget when it comes to events and holidays.
December is a time that needs special care because with Christmas, it’s easy to overspend.
For many, the days that follow Christmas are filled with financial stress. This is due to worry about overpaying rent or replacing a newly emptied emergency fund.
As someone who doesn’t enjoy micromanaging every dollar, it’s easier to acknowledge that during certain months I have to be careful with my spending.
And if I don’t feel like making a monthly budget, I remind myself of the financial trouble I can get into.
Budgeting isn’t always fun, sometimes it’s simply a financial responsibility we have to take care of.
Have no spend days
A no-spend day can decrease financial anxiety by allowing you to consciously decide not to spend money.
Tomorrow, instead of buying breakfast you can make it at home, skip the grocery store run, and make sure to stay away from online shopping platforms.
Any money saved can go toward your financial goals or investment.
Automate your bills
Automating your bills is a great way to get them paid on time and take the hassle out of remembering due dates.
Plus, it’s less tempting to run into financial trouble by missing a payment or spending your bill money.
Automate your savings
How much you should and can save depends on your financial situation is.
From each biweekly/monthly paycheck, you can save an amount or at least 10% of your take-home pay.
Saving $50 or $100 (whichever number is considered small for your lifestyle) and increasing this as time passes, is a great way to start saving for the future.
Saving for the future can mean a down payment on a new car, house, wedding, holiday, or vacation.
Clear your debt
Student loan repayments have been paused until January of 2022 and for many people, this is a reason to stop clearing their debt.
But paying off your student loans can give you extra money in your pocket.
Imagine how much your money could grow if invested or how many big ideas you could make a reality, if only you had extra cash.
Keep track of your credit cards
Using your credit card as a debit card is a great money move.
You can not only boost your credit score by spending smartly and clearing the balance monthly, but you can practice responsible credit card usage.
I like to put things in my cart as if I only have my debit card with me and then pay with my credit card.
If you walk into a store planning to pay with your high limit credit card, you may be tempted to overspend and run into financial trouble.
Buy things of value
There’s nothing worse than seeing money leave out of your bank account and not know where it went.
If you’re going to buy a pair of shoes make sure they will last. Buying a new pair every few weeks can end up costing more than if you spent $100 upfront.
Dealing with money anxiety and financial stress means discovering what you truly enjoy spending money on.
Create a digital product
What better way to manage financial anxiety and a scarcity mindset than to boost your income?
Finding ways to increase your assets without having to do extra work is the key to passive income.
A digital product can be sold a thousand times after only being created once. Managing your money and making a plan can jumpstart a new chapter of your life.
Be kind to yourself
It’s easy to feel that you made the wrong decisions in life or that you aren’t where you want to be.
But acknowledging that you feel financial anxiety shows that you care about your money.
Once we implement the proper ways of actually saving, spending, and investing, it becomes a new set of habits.
It only takes 6 months for a habit to form. Take a moment to think of how you can change your lifestyle for the better and impact not only the people around you but the generations that will come after.
Conclusion
Financial anxiety and financial stress are manageable with the right coping mechanisms.
And you aren’t alone in feeling worried about the future or your current money problem. We, as humans, are uncomfortable with uncertainty.
It’s why we dream of a future and make conclusions based on the past. By making a few changes in your daily life, the idea of money won’t simply cause butterflies, instead, it’ll make you think of more moves to make.
Leave a comment below on what you’ve learned more about financial anxiety!
