If you feel your heart speed up, notice your mind raise, and lose your appetite whenever it comes time to open bills – you probably have financial anxiety.
What is financial anxiety? It’s the condition of intense worry and anxiety regarding money and your relationship to it.
When left unchecked, this feeling can keep you stuck or cause you to sink deeper into a hole. We’ve got answers if you’re looking for ways to deal with it.
The tips below will assist you in overcoming financial anxiety.
1. Consult With a Financial Advisor
The main way to learn how to overcome financial anxiety is the same way you tackle any major problem – with help. Financial professionals can help you find out exactly where you stand with your finances.
They’ll point out your major flaws and what patterns you’ve fallen into. These professionals can then help you formulate a plan and carry it out.
Even if you don’t go that far with the financial advisor, the information that you get from the initial consultation can be invaluable.
2. Assess Your Fundamental Relationship to Money
If you’re figuring out how to cope with financial anxiety, make sure you audit the way that you think about money. No, the way you really think about money.
Money is one of those hot-button issues that people often have complexes about, due to internalized beliefs or past traumas. It may not even be at the forefront of your mind, but many people have negative thoughts, beliefs, or associations about money.
When this is the case, you’ll likely keep getting in your way and making the same mistakes, despite your best efforts. Figure out the best way to get to the bottom of your money beliefs, so that you can work through them.
Professionals like Sarah McCrum specialize in helping people transform their relationships with money. Only once you do that can you move past money anxiety, so you can begin executing strategies.
3. Create Rules for Saving
You’re likely coping with financial anxiety because you’re not thriving financially. The thing is, you don’t have to be rich to feel more financially secure than you do right now.
Starting a simple savings habit can heal your psyche more than you know. Many people get into the habit of earning and blowing all of their money. Saving even a little at a time in a savings account will make you feel more secure since you have a rainy day fund, or at least enough money to tackle minor emergencies.
It’s only when you don’t have adequate savings that you’ll find yourself tip-toeing through life feeling fragile when considering your finances.
4. Start Paying Down Your Debts
Getting creditors off your back is another way of dealing with financial anxiety. Pull a list of the debts that you owe, and begin paying off your accounts one by one.
Perhaps you want to start paying down a small credit card balance until you’ve paid it all off. The enthusiasm of paying down that card will build energy so that you feel encouraged to pay down the next debt, and the next.
Money anxiety will have you fearful of even picking up your phone or checking the mail because you have so many creditors trying to get in touch with you. Paying off debts or seeking debt forgiveness will have you one step closer to breathing easy when you go to the mailbox.
5. Set New Financial Goals
Fear of the future is a tell-tale anxiety sign. If you have anxiety over money, it means that you’re fearful of your financial future. The only way past this feeling is to make financial progress.
Start setting goals that you can use to increase your earnings or to secure your financial future. You might have goals about your retirement, and what combination of investments will get you the nest egg that you need.
Perhaps you’re trying to build your stock portfolio, or are thinking about investing in crypto.
There are also other milestones, such as purchasing your first home or setting aside money in your child’s college fund. When you know that you’re going places, you’ll chase away the feelings of inadequacy around your ability to navigate the journey.
6. Take Care of Your Physical Health
Anxiety almost always has physical symptoms. People most notably feel heart palpitations or deal with tightness in the chest, constricted breathing, or pain and tension in the body.
The neck and shoulders are particular areas where stress starts to mount up after a while. Do everything that you can to work out the kinks in your body, starting with a good physical exercise regimen.
Weight training will do your body good when you have money anxiety. Building muscle and regulating your testosterone levels will help you to build core confidence and a mind to bravely face the uncertainties and stresses of life.
You might also like cardio exercises, like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, jogging, rock climbing, martial arts, or jumping rope. Yoga is excellent for the body and mind and is known to chase stress away.
Match your physical fitness with proper hydration, plenty of nutritious food, and sleep.
7. Make a Budget and Stick to It
Finally, people stress out over money when they don’t have an ongoing plan of what to do with it. Study your income and bills and set a budget that you can stick to.
This will help you save money and pay your bills on time. There are several formulas and personal finance apps you can check out that can help you make a simple budget for your household.
Start Overcoming Financial Anxiety
Overcoming financial anxiety can make you feel like you’ve got your life back. Money isn’t everything, but you’ll feel more secure when you know what you’re doing with it.
Begin with these tips and check out our other articles to learn more about personal finance.
