Financial problems are the world over. You will be hard-pressed to find someone who has not experienced monetary problems in their life. Financial stress is inevitable. When you notice a dropdown in your finances, you will naturally be stressed.
You are not alone who suffer from financial stress. According to a survey, one-third of Brits reported that they lived paycheque to paycheque, and when this figure is broken down by gender, women are more likely to live paycheque to paycheque, with 36% of women compared to 25% of men.
The same survey suggested that about 45% of people had managed to stick to the monthly budget while 10% reported that they had missed payments on utility bills and 3% had missed payments on mortgages and rent.
Getting by is being more difficult as each year passes. According to a survey conducted in October last year, young people aged 16 to 24 had reported that they find it difficult to make ends meet with the money they earn.
Financial stress is much higher in young people than the elderly, and unfortunately, they are not comfortable talking over their money problems. People aged 25 to 34 are more likely to experience financial stress than people of any other age group.
WAYS TO COPE UP WITH FINANCIAL STRESS
Though financial stress is inevitable, it does not mean that you should not make an effort to overcome it. Here are some of the ways how you can cope with financial stress.
1. Talk to someone
A study conducted last year shows that over 29 million adults in the UK do not feel comfortable while discussing money even though they are worried about their finances every other day.
However, the same study reveals that 48% of people feel financial worries once a week, and about 60% of people say that they have become worried because of the pandemic. More than 50% of adults do not find it easy to talk about money with anyone, including their spouses.
Just one in ten reported that they had opened up to family and friends to discuss their financial concerns. It is a long-held belief that people avoid money conversations because they think it can be very impolite and cause altercation instead of helping them get to the solution, but this is not just the reason for avoiding it.
The most common reasons people avoid money conversation are shame, anxiety, not wanting to be a burden on others, and thinking the others would be smarter than them in money management.
Whatever the reason you do not feel like talking to others about your financial concerns, you should forget them and push yourself to do it. Talk to someone whom you trust and believe that they can give you the right piece of advice.
You can talk to a financial expert if you do not have anyone in your family or friends who can help you. The financial expert can look over your financial condition and suggest ways to take control of your money. You will have to be honest during the conversation.
2. Identify the cause of stress
You cannot overcome financial stress unless you know the root cause. There is no point in talking about money if you do not want to seriously know what is responsible for it and how to deal with it.
You may be worried. After all, you do not earn much money to make ends meet or worry because you are a spendthrift. There can be endless causes for being worried about your current financial situation.
You will have to identify those causes and then think about the ways how to deal with them. For instance, if your expenses are more than your income, you will have to grab more work. You can either switch to a job with higher pay or get some additional work.
No matter how much you curb your daily expenses, you cannot make your financial situation better if you do not implement the right solution. Likewise, if your financial condition is not good because of the high debt-to-income ratio, you will have to figure out ways how you can lessen your debt.
You will have to come up with a debt repayment plan so you can avoid paying money in interest and late payment fees. Think about the plan that works for you, and lenders do not have any problems accepting payments according to that plan.
3. Tighten up your budget
Revisit your budget to see what changes you need to introduce to get yourself back on the financial track. Your budget may have loopholes to deal with regardless of the cause of financial stress. You should look over your expenses to know how much money is going out and where.
Your spending behaviour can be the most significant cause of financial stress. Many people blame their income for is running out of money at the end of the month, but the fact is that you will never be content with your earnings if you keep fritting away money.
If you do not change your spending behaviour, you will, of course, keep spending more and more money as your income goes up, so understand what expenses are inessential and how you can cut back on them.
With the help of a budget, you can track your expenses to know where and how much money went. You can track your expenses weekly so you can take up immediate reins over your money before it is too late.
If you find that you have overspent at the end of the month, make sure that you adjust your spending next month so you can make up the loss.
4. Stay positive
Changing your financial condition overnight is not possible at all. It takes a couple of months, provided you stick to your goals. It is essential to be positive if you want to overcome financial stress.
Make yourself believe that it is going to improve, and soon it will get better. Although you have to come up with an impactful strategy, at the same time, you will have to stay positive.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE SITUATION IMPROVES?
When your financial condition improves, you will have to make sure that you can maintain it. However, it does not mean that you will never need to borrow money.
If you come up with a financial emergency and you do not have enough savings, you can fund your needs with private loans in the UK. However, make sure that you can manage to pay off the debt.
Otherwise, you will again fall into the endless circle of financial stress. To deal with such stress, you should also focus on your physical health, pursue hobbies, and exercise apart from changing your habits.
You cannot control certain situations, and hence you should not think about them, for instance, the pandemic. You should instead focus on the ways how you can make your money work for you.
The tips mentioned above can help you tackle your financial stress smoothly and once it lets up, make sure that you do not lose control over your finances.
