This is a sponsored post by CreditRepair.com. All opinions are 100% our own.
It kind of goes without saying, that stress should be avoided at all costs – especially if it’s financial stress.
There are so many possible financial worries that you can have such as the general cost of living, cost of groceries, cost of raising kids, paying off debts, getting married and so on.
Financial worries can cross over into every aspect of your life – relationships, work, health and so on.
There are ways that you can try and avoid financial stress, and they don’t need to be overcomplicated or difficult, which we will look at today.
1) Identify Your Current Financial Problems
I know that sometimes it’s easier to carry on and pretend like nothing is happening, but that’s not really going to help you get where you need to be.
The best time that you can start something is today.
There could be all kinds of things going on right now, and it’s time to look at what those specific problems are.
A good place to start is with your credit report. It may feel a little bit scary to look at it, but it’s going to show you how everything looks.
If you look at it and see that you need to fix your credit score, a great place to start is with CreditRepair.com who will help you fix your credit score and deal with creditors on your behalf.
You just need to sign up here and they’ll do the hard work for you.
2) Create a Budget
The best step that you can take when it comes to fixing your finances is to create a budget.
The reason for that is because you will have all of the numbers written down in black and white – so there’s no arguing with them.
If we aren’t keeping track of our money we may have no idea where it’s actually going. Creating a budget will show you where your money is going exactly, and you can make a plan from that.
You will want to start by looking at your income – if you are made different amounts each pay-day, figure out what your minimum amount of income would be and create the budget from that.
The next step is to look at expenses – we always recommend tracking your spending so that you can see the numbers in real time, and figure out where it’s going. This will also help to create a realistic budget.
You will want to be able to do income – expenses = a decent amount of money, that you can use for debt or savings. If not, you may need to increase your income and reduce your expenses.
3) Build an Emergency Fund
When you are in a bad place financially, it feels like a never-ending cycle. You start to save some money, then something goes wrong that you have to pay for. Rinse and repeat over and over.
An emergency fund is money that you save and do not touch unless there is an emergency. The thought is that you will have the money there to pay for anything unexpected, instead of going into debt.
Building an emergency fund means that when something unexpected happens, you have the money there.
This means that you don’t go into debt, and you don’t need to worry about where you are going to get the money from. The peace of mind that this brings is more than worth it.
The amount to save depends on your current situation, but a good amount to aim for would be $1000.
It may sound like a huge amount of money if you are struggling at the moment, but if you cut back on your expenses and try to earn some extra cash on the side it will grow quickly.
A perfect bank to start your emergency fund with is CIT Bank’s high yeild savings builder.
4) Reach Out For Help
It’s important to remember that you are not alone in this. There are millions of American’s in debt right now, and the majority of them aren’t talking about it.
There is a feeling of ‘shame’ around a bad money situation, but the feeling of shame or guilt isn’t going to help you progress.
Have you ever heard of the expression ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’?
When you keep your problems and worries to yourself, they can eat you up inside. Just talking to someone about it and getting it off your chest will help you feel so much better.
If you are worried about your credit score, there are services that can help you understand and manage the hard work for you.
Sign up to CreditRepair.com to get started fixing your credit today.
5) Determine What You Can Change
Once you’ve created your budget and come to terms with how everything is looking, you can decide what you can change.
When looking at your budget, is it a problem of money going in, or money coming out?
Whilst it may be tempting to think that more money would solve everything, it could be likely that there is a problem with the amount that you are spending in general.
Have a look at your expenses and see if there is anything that you can cut back on. This only needs to be a temporary thing and you can always add items back in once you are back on track.
Cutting back on your expenditure is definitely something that you can change, but there are bigger changes that you could make too, such as moving house or selling your car.
Change Your Perspective on Things
When you are dealing with financial stress, it can be hard to imagine a time when you won’t feel like this – but I promise, it is more than possible.
It can also be hard to make light of the situation, when it may feel very negative to you. The way that we think about things is more important than we realize.
Trying to look for the positives will help you to turn this from being a burden into a positive – changing your life for the better.
Sometimes, we need the bad times to appreciate the good times. We also sometimes need a little nudge in the right direction, and this could change your life trajectory completely.
You could get a new job, leave an unhappy relationship, become financially free, start to live the life that you were meant to live. All it takes is a confident step in the right direction.
Final Thoughts on Dealing with Financial Stress
If you look at the stats, you definitely aren’t alone. A report by CNBC showed that the average American is in $38,000 of personal debt.
How many of those people do you think are talking about it? Unfortunately, it’s still pretty taboo to talk about money, although we are part of the movement trying to stop that.
The best thing that you can do is to get started today – you won’t regret it.
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What stresses you out the most about your personal finance?
Hi Kelan and Brittany!
I like how you have broken this down to become such a simple process. It seems so overwhelming to people, and like you mentioned, stressful. Thanks for the post, I look forward to reading more. I will be sure to share this!
Thanks Mike. Sometimes breaking it down makes it a little easier to start taking action on. Glad you found it helpful.