Most Americans worry about money: rising costs, stagnant wages, increasing debt, having enough to retire, banks going broke and staggering medical bills are the nightmares that keep us awake at night. How can you keep the shadow of money worry away?
Make a Plan
It’s nearly impossible to stop worrying about the unknown. While you can never know if the stock market will crash tomorrow, you can reasonably predict the in- and outflow of money in your household. If you don’t have a budget or at least a good idea of your monthly costs, you’re worrying about the monster in the closet and refusing to open the door to look. Make a plan to address your specific worry, whether paying down debt, financing your child’s education, or saving for retirement. By really analyzing your financial situation, you’ve taken control and brought the monster down to life size.
If you worry about the catastrophic – and really, who doesn’t once in a while – make reasonable preparations and nothing more. Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance and an emergency fund will get you through ninety-eight percent of emergencies. Buying too much life insurance, insuring electronics or building a bomb shelter in your basement is probably too much. End the anxiety by being prepared, but don’t fall victim to overpreparation.
Reducing End-of-the-Month Panic
Late payments affect your credit score and often result in extra fees, so getting in control of your bills is key to financial confidence. If you can pay your bills on the same day every month, even if they are due later in the month, can help you make sure you don’t forget one. Automatic bill pay is a great option for the forgetful, and many creditors offer incentives and discounts since they know you’ll pay your bill.
Set Aside Time
Don’t let money be a constant, mindless worry in the back of your mind that you’ll get in order “sometime soon.” Set aside time to take care of financial duties like checking your account online, balancing your checkbook, updating your budget and reviewing investment opportunities. Make it an appointment you can’t miss, as if you were going to the dentist or the doctor’s office. You can find relief from specific concerns by using this time to address them objectively and ease your overall level of stress over finances.
Review your Progress
If you’ve taken the time to put your finances in order and still have doubts, reassess your approach. The nagging worry may mean that there’s an aspect that still makes you uncomfortable. Maybe you would like to have more emergency savings or pay off your debt sooner. Make the change if it makes financial sense and put your fears to rest. If you’re comfortable with your plan, reviewing it will remind you that you are on the right track. You may continue to fear a stock market crash or the next great recession, but you probably also fear spiders, heights or confined spaces. What’s important is overcoming your fear so that you are in control.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
This fits perfectly for me because sometimes I tend to overspent on things. It helped me a lot and I will follow all of your advice.
I need this badly! I think we all do! Thank you so much for making such a good post, it is a great help for people who need to stop worrying too much when it comes to money! Kudos! 🙂
I worry a lot about money. It’s hard for me not to. I think this will really help me. I’m glad I have read your post and I’m definitely going to follow all your advice.
Kristine recently posted..Architecture and nature co-existing happily together – is it possible?
I spend too much on things and maybe this is the reason why I can’t stop worrying about money. Think you for sharing this, Chris. I think this is just what I need. I need to stop worrying too much about money and should start following your advice.
I have found that the best way for me not to worry about money is to just work as hard as I can and let the money side hopefully take care of itself. Also while you are working you are. Not worrying also so a bit of a win win. Works for me probably not for everyone.
Hope this helps someone lee
Lee recently posted..Summer Bucket List
Money is not just the root of all evil, it is also the most wanted in this world. I am a worryer especially with the finances of my family but with your post, I realized that I can do something to stop this worry.
You can start by planning out your priorities and setting aside some things that may not be that important or useful for you at the moment. it\’s about wise decision making. In the end, you can rest easy knowing that you don\’t have to worry abou skimping on a meal or two because you have to save up for your bills.
Right management of money and finances is the best way to avoid worries. And your tips are also helpful to stop those worries.
For me money and worries come hand in hand. I always think of being stingy and spending money with great care, but always end up spending more than what is necessary. The post is in a way tailor made for me, I will make a plan about my spendings and spend in a controlled fashion. Thanks for the share.
Aayna recently posted..Kim Wilde Drunk Christmas Impromtu Performance on British Rail
Actually, these are the basics when it comes to stressfree financial handling. The basics which most of us tend to overlook or forget about, thinking that we have enough funds to cover for our bills. Thank you very much for bringing this up once again for our awareness!
You do need to plan to get out of your money blues. Everyone has money problems every now and then, I have been in a crunch myself.
I had to borrow from Pay day loans. They are a rip off. I like how you told us how to get out of debt and deal with money issues. thanks
Michael Belk recently posted..Iowa supports gender discrimination in the workplace
Interesting share and great tips.
Late payments definitely hamper budget . I am not good at managing budget and have got excellent tips to manage it well from now onwards.
You simply need to have more income than expenses. It IS that simple. The problem is that people have more expenses then they do income and so the cycle of stress begins….It can be emotionally hard to cut spending and decrease the expenses or downsize. Take the U.S. Government for example. The cuts they are making are very small compared to their spending and they act like it is the end of the world. That’s what is driving cost up and the value of the dollar down.
If you want to continue to stress out and worry then don’t cut, keep your spending higher than your income and you’ll have all the stress you want.
Michael recently posted..Careers with the FBI
Yes, more income and less expenses equation work great to stop worrying about money. Avoiding unnecessary expenses is one of the tips to avoid additional cost, thus you can save it to a more valuable thing.
The title of this article made me smile. Everyone never stop thinking about how to get money. I would say that it is now considered as a basic need. I guess, we all start moving when we started worrying about money.
There have been times in my life where it seemed that almost the only thing i ever thought about was my money troubles, thankfully the worst of these times are now behind me but your post got me thinking. Can we ever be truly worry free with regards to money? I imagine even multi millionaires have money worries, i guess true happiness in life comes from more than just being financially worry free but it’s certainly a huge part of it for most of us.
Money is always matter of concern for people, whether they are rich, middle class or poor. People keep working on getting worry free about money but they don’t get success unless and until they prepare right financial planning and refer to certified financial planner™. Right financial planning with help of financial expert can get you out of this concern and lead you to better financial future.
This is such great advice. My fiance and I really need to sit down and look at our finances so we can get a plan in place.
liztrull recently posted..10 Things of Thankful (a linkup)
Because I think about money all the time I think I am prone to always worry about it. Getting all the right kinds of insurance (term life, home, auto, disability, etc) helped me to stop worrying about the future so much. The short term is a little different story because sometimes we don’t follow our budget so closely and then things can get a little hairy. Fortunately part of my plan is to have some cash reserves in case of emergencies.
DW recently posted..A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Life Insurance Without a Medical Exam
Planning that is well-integrated with good timing is the main thing that stops one from worrying about his finances. Of course, we also have debt consolidation and the 50-30-20 plot to help out. 🙂 But all in all, it just takes planning and pushing to follow the plan to the dot.
Hailey Lawrence recently posted..How Much are Silver Quarters Worth?
I like using the 75%-25% rule. I spend 25% of my monthly salary on wants, while I save 75% for future necessities.
I think its as easy as not living beyond your means. Too many people spend more than their earning and get into the spiral of debt. When I was younger I moved around always trying to get a better job with more money. Its also worth saving for a rainy day as no one knows what the future holds.
Live inside your means where possible and this will reduce your worry. There are so many ways to save money.