Money on your mind? 5 Steps to Reduce Financial Stress
We hear a lot about the value in keeping physically and mentally fit and healthy. Stress can affect your body, your thoughts, feelings, and your behaviour. Financial stress is very similar – it can increase anxiety, put pressure on relationships and cause you to lose sleep
Money can really impact relationships - both at work and at home. Taking control of your money can ease some of that stress.
With the rising cost of living we’re all becoming increasingly worried about money and we want to ensure you have access to the tools that could help.
5 Steps to Reduce Financial Stress
We’ve put together five steps to help ease your financial anxiety, help you move toward financial goal achievement, and reduce money stress. See our five steps below:
1: Take Steps to Build a Budget
One of the most powerful things you can do to relieve uncertainty and financial stress is to take a step back and make a plan. Your spending plan may be weekly, monthly, or yearly depending on what you are planning for and can help you figure out how to meet both your short and long-term financial goals. Think about it like a fitness plan: it’s not about dieting, it’s about getting healthy, staying healthy, and being ready for the life you want! Read our step-by-step guide to help you get started
2: Reduce Financial Stress By Getting Support
When it comes to money stress, you don’t have to go it alone. Having a support system can help you reach your goals. Surround yourself with people you trust who will support your financial goals and want to help you succeed.
You can also make use of trusted resources, like the Money Advice Service who provide a range of free and impartial tools to help you improve your finances. Also, don’t forget you have access to a range of benefits through Salary Finance including access to affordable loans repaid through salary, hassle-free savings accounts and money insights to help you manage your money.
3: Make one financial decision at a time
When faced with multiple money decisions, we know this can sometimes feel overwhelming. One of the ways to deal with this could be to focus on dealing with one thing at a time.
For instance, perhaps you might decide to tackle your debts first as a priority. Whatever the reason you have debt, many of us struggle to know how to pay it back without it costing a fortune or taking too long. Take a look at this handy article to help you explore your options, including debt consolidation. If you have high cost debt and want to explore consolidating, Salary Finance may be able to help. To find out if a Salary Finance loan could help you consolidate your debt, visit: www.salaryfinance.com
4: Look at Your Financial Goals
To reduce financial stress it can be helpful to understand your overall financial situation so you can put your money to work for your goals! A few starter questions about your short and long term financial goals can help you get an idea of what you have to work with, what your commitments are, and what you have remaining to devote to your goals.
What do you want to accomplish? Set a specific and detailed goal. By putting specifics like an amount or a timeframe on your goal, it makes it easier to see your progress and accomplish it. For example, instead of “save more money” your goal could be “build a £1000 emergency fund by the end of the year”. Here are some quick ways to help get you started.
5: Stay Flexible
Remember, nothing is set in stone. You can reduce your financial stress by staying flexible. You’re in charge of your plan and your goals! It’s always a good idea to pay off debt and to make saving a priority (pay yourself first!) You can always adjust your goal along the way, review your budget and make adjustments to trim expenses or direct money towards something different.