If you are worried about money, what are you going to do? The answer to that question is one you don’t know, which is why you are worried. You are possibly wondering where you are going to get the dollars needed to pay all your bills.
Everybody hates hearing it, but the quickest way to stop worrying about money is to stop spending. It’s easier to stop spending than it is to keep trying to increase your earnings. Most people spend more than they earn. Or they spend to the max of their credit cards and just make the minimum payment, which puts them further behind.
You have much more control over what you spend, and what you spend on, than you do over what you earn, in most cases.
Learning to differentiate between needs and wants is an essential life skill, which is not taught as widely or effectively as it should be. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, ‘Champagne taste on a beer budget.’ Hopefully, that’s not you!
If you are a worried couple, instead of fighting and worrying about money, there are several ways to ease the stress by being proactive together rather than reactive separately.
Firstly, you are going to have to change your mindset of instant gratification to one of preparation and security. It’s like buying insurance. You may not ever need it, but if you do need it and don’t have it, then you’re really going to end up financially hurting.
Secondly, if you employ some of these simple tactics below, you can ease your stress and worry less about money.
Set Up Automatic Deductions
Set up automatic transfers from your deposited paycheck, even if it is a small amount, into your savings plan. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, but if you start, you may find you can increase it later. This way, you won’t even see the money and won’t feel like it’s available to spend. Some companies have plans available for pre-tax deductions, which is also a great idea.
Set Up A Realistic Budget
It may feel like it’s a daunting task at first, but it’s worth the work you do in setting it up. By setting up a budget, you know exactly how much you have available for your expenses for that pay period. If you overspend, it gives you a visual picture of where you went wrong. There are many budget tools online you can use or download. Before you doing anything else, this one is highly recommended.
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Unlink Your Online Accounts
Many of us use online banking, which makes things extremely convenient to pay bills and other non-essential items. If you lack self-discipline, It also makes it too easy to transfer money from savings to checking at the touch of a screen. Unlink your online access, or set up an account that can’t be too easily accessed. Make it so you have to physically enter the bank, or wait a day or two to get your funds. If it’s harder to access, you’ll be less likely to use it on a whim.
Be More Frugal
Saving money on purchases has never been easier with online shopping. You can comparison shop for cheaper items. The only problem is you can easily buy what you don’t need! So don’t go shopping online with the intent to save money, only to buy something that’s not in your planned budget.
There are tons of online resources to cut costs in all sorts of ways. For example, DIY-ing and repurposing are incredibly popular as we are in the middle of a sustainable living movement. You don’t have to be a full-fledged homesteader to reap a great many of the benefits.
Remember, money isn’t everything… now I can hear you say, “It can’t buy happiness but it’s right up there!’ It certainly can ease financial stress but it certainly can’t buy happiness. If you’re more careful with your finances and make an effort to live within your means, while still adding to your savings for that rainy day, stressing about money will reduce.
