Advice For The Financially Stressed Out

Who would like more money every week, or month or year ? It's the dream of every person that buys a lottery ticket or bets on a horse. And that's quite a lot of us.

One thing you may have noticed, whenever you get a pay rise or some pleasant windfall, that your expenses soon consume the extra money that you've received. The more you earn the more ingenious ways you find to spend it. This can lead to problems for many people

The lack of money left at the end of the month is an issue for far to many people. This lack of money is just one way that finances can induce stress which can have a knock on effect in other areas of your life.

Think about all the things that money worries might influence.

How does it affect your ability to do your job? 
How does it affect your relationships? 
How does it affect your children?
How does it affect your health ?

Financial stress is attributed as a major contributor to arguments between partners. And a major reason why marriages breakdown.

However with a bit of planning and thought there are solutions for the financially stressed out.

The first step is to be realistic about your finances. 

The amount of money leaving your account every month should be less than the amount of money that comes into your account.
 
The key to getting a grip of your finances (and hence your stress) is to develop a budget. Work out how much money you will have at the end of the month after all the outgoings and financial commitments that you have. Outgoings involve everything you can think of, be it paying credit cards, loans or everyday essentials like bus fares or lunch money. A major mistake for many people is to disregard trivial things like a daily bus fare because it is not much. They soon add up and make a neat little hole in your wallet at the end of the month.
  
If you are in significant debt then avoid a debt consolidation service unless you are disciplined enough to meet their payment demands. This is where they make their money – by relying on people being disorganized. If you can stay focused then the service might be useful.

After this work out how much money you will have left over to do with as you like. If this is not much then think of ways to get the most out of it. Yes, that means economize. Make your own lunch rather than buying an expensive sandwich. Take public transport rather than taking the gas guzzler to work each day. Make the hard choices until you are in a better financial situation.
 
If you are in a relationship then make the finances a joint responsibility. This holds you both accountable to each other and keep communication open about financial issues.  It also ensures you both know exactly what is going on, which will reduce the stress between you.

Finally, if you really do need money, think of loans and credit as a last resort. How can you earn that extra money?   Get a new job ? Or  get another one ? There is only so much you can economize for, if you need more money then you need extra sources of income. Money doesn't have to be stressful provided you control it rather than it controlling you. This is the key to all stressful situations.

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