Before learning how to deal with financial stress it is helpful to discover where the stress is coming from. Financial stress may be triggered by one particular circumstance or it can be a combination thereof.
This post will help you understand the symptoms of financial stress, what causes financial stress, and some tips for how to deal with it.
Financial stress symptoms
Financial stress symptoms can take on many forms. Below is a list of common indicators, just to name a few.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Inability to sleep/sleeping too much
- Poor eating habits
- Agitation
- Need to be controlling
- Excessive worry
- Denial
Until you take the steps to make some improvements with your money management routines as well as your money mindset, you will end up in a cycle of financial stress that is hard to come out of.
I must make a disclaimer here. If you have any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned above, and are concerned, please talk with your doctor. I am not a licensed therapist and my post and tips are not meant to diagnose or treat any illness that requires professional help.
Financial stress example: My story
I remember a time when I could not sleep well, felt anxious, hardly ate and was easily agitated because I was constantly worried about our money situation.
My husband and I both work but he has irregular income so if we do not prepare then we can be in big financial trouble.
There was a time when his business was really dry. We did not have a lot coming in…well, there was nothing coming in. Although we had money set aside for this potential circumstance and I earned enough to cover the basics it really stressed me out to see our savings account start to dwindle.
It stressed me out!! I could not sleep, my eating habits were horrible, agitation was my middle name and our marriage was rocky, to say the least. I let it consume me and did not know how to deal with financial stress.
My husband was stressed as well. He felt he was not providing for the family, his business was shaky and I was obviously anxious which made it more difficult for him.
Once I realized that the symptoms I had were a result of my money anxiety I was able to set up a way to better cope with them.
See, my focus was on the reduction of our savings and the fear of what would happen if it all went away. I let that fear of take control of my life. Literally.
What did I do?
I became more grateful and reminded myself why we had the savings account in the first place. This is what it was for.
I was grateful that my husband was working hard to improve his business and that he was able to do something he loved and grateful I had a job that paid our basic living expenses and provided our health insurance.
The more I shifted my mindset to what we had and what was working, the better I slept, and ate and the happier I felt.
I felt better physically, as well as mentally and my energy changed. This energy change flowed into our home. My husband was able to focus more clearly on his work and eventually, things picked up again. Ultimately, we paid back our savings account.
What causes financial stress?
Anytime you have a loss of income or an increase in expenses you will most likely experience some financial stress in your life.
Your stress can be related to the physical aspects of the change (such as how can I pay my bills and survive), the mental aspects (such as your worthiness, anxiety or fears), or more likely a combination of both.
I shared my story with you as an example of how the combination of both physical and mental aspects contributed to my financial stress.
We had a loss of income and it was for a long time. That was the physical aspect. Although we were prepared for it, my anxiety about that dang savings account getting smaller and smaller and my fear about what would happen if it all went away created real physical and mental conditions for me.
For sure the affects of income loss or increased expenses will vary from person to person. However, you can feel financial stress regardless of your actual physical numbers and if you do, then take a look at making some financial changes, both physically and mentally.
How to deal with financial stress
Below are a few tips to help you reduce financial stress.
1. Be grateful
Find things to be grateful for. I started writing down all of the things I was grateful for and it really did help. I was grateful that I was still working, that we had a savings account to help us out, that we were able to pay our bills, that we had no debt and we only needed to cut down on expenses that were wants and not needs. The more things I listed that I was grateful for, the more confident I felt knowing that things would work out. This exercise reduced my stress, anxiety and fears about not having any money.
Keeping a gratitude journal can help. Try some of these journal prompts to get you started.
2. Prepare
Prepare as much as you can financially by reducing your debt and bumping up your savings account. This is not always easy especially if you are living paycheck by paycheck and are barely making enough to scrape by but every little bit helps.
If you are at a point where you are doing fairly well or you have irregular income, then be sure to sock away as much as you can during times of abundance.
Having money set aside can help relieve some financial stress.
3. Create a budget
There are two benefits for creating a budget to reduce your stress. Well, there are a lot of benefits to a budget, but two main ones come to mind.
The first is simply the fact that you are doing something that tackles your issue head on. You are getting in the drivers seat. Looking at your financial situation can be stressful, but it is not going to change if you ignore it. Doing something about your situation will leave you feeling in charge.
The second benefit to budgeting is that it will help your financial situation in the long run. A budget is a plan for how you spend your money…regardless of how much money you earn. Successful businesses have budgets and not because they are hurting financially. They have them because they are planning for financial success.
Take the leap and start creating a monthly budget. If you are resistant to budgeting or don’t know where to start then check in with yourself to determine why that is. Are there any budgeting myths you have been telling yourself or maybe you just don’t know the right budget method to choose? Whatever it is for you, do some research and get started on your budget.
4. Money mindset
We all have beliefs about money. Most of our beliefs stem from either our direct experience with money or those of our parents or caregivers.
Your money mindset can contribute to the level of financial stress you feel when faced with income loss or an increase in expenses.
For example:
My parents owned a small business and had irregular income. Witnessing their experience of basically feast or famine I picked up a belief that money, or lack there of, was a form of security and safety. It makes perfect sense given my choice of work. I like a steady income that provides stability and that I can easily create budgets around a consistent paycheck.
Fast forward and I marry someone who has his own business and brings home an irregular income.
Naturally, I find a way to hoard as much money in the savings account and have as little debt as possible in order to feel safe and secure. When that is compromised, such as savings being depleted, I feel a loss of security and then become stressed.
My example shows how some self discovery can be useful to determine our beliefs about money what triggers our stress. Once we know the root cause, we can start with our resolutions.
What is the root cause of your stress? Here are a few possibilities:
- Money was scarce growing up
- Money is the key subject for arguments
- Not earning enough money was equated to being not worthy
- Nobody talked about money in your family
- Having more money then someone else means you are selfish (again, not worthy)
- You must work hard for money
Maybe you have another situation. Do some inner work and try to find what contributed to your money mindset and in some cases your financial stress.
Some methods you can use to help with this process are below. Decluttering your mind is a good place to start.
- Meditation
- Mindfulness activities
- Journaling
- Chakra work
- Talk to your family members about past experiences
In summary
Although financial stress may start from either a loss of income and/or increase in expenses, our beliefs about money can trigger the level of stress that we feel.
Once you understand your money anxieties you will become more mindful of your financial stress triggers and and learn to soothe yourself when they show up. This helps you deal with your financial stress.
Do yourself a favor and don’t be so hard on yourself or the situation. Be honest with your source of stress and then take the appropriate actions to accept and nurture it.
Whether it is bringing more gratitude into your life, giving yourself more self care, focusing on your money management or a combination of all, remind yourself that this situation is an opportunity to learn something about your finances and yourself.
Thanks for reading!
Stay balanced,
Jill