There are varying degrees of financial stress. For example, consider the stress levels in these statements:
- “How will we pay for the trip to Hawaii this year?”
- “We don’t have enough money to go out to Luigi’s, but we can have Pizza Palace
- deliver.”
- “We can pay the electric bill or the gas bill, but we can’t pay both. Remember that the bank said we’d lose the car if we don’t make a payment by the 10th of the month.”
Some people are fortunate enough to have never been in the last situation, but many people aren’t so lucky. Desperate times are highly stressful times.
The good news is that it is possible to get out of a financial crisis! Alleviating such financial pressure requires a cool head and a plan.
Follow this process to reduce your financial stress and see brighter days ahead:
1. Gather information.
Get an accurate picture about your situation. It’s easy to make yourself more upset than necessary. Ensure that you have a factual representation of what’s going on.
- How much money are you making?
- What are your bills?
- How much debt do you have?
- What resources are available to you?
2. Focus on solutions.
Commit yourself to finding solutions. Most of us tend to focus on comfort, which is a big mistake. Nothing happens when you make yourself comfortable. You’re just distracted. Spend the vast majority of your time looking for, and working on, solutions.
You can take it easy at night before bed and focus on making yourself comfortable then to help you have a good night’s sleep.
3. Eliminate every unnecessary expense.
Most people have several expenses that provide little to no value. Do you have gym membership you never use? Magazine subscriptions? Expensive cell phone plan?
Get rid of every expense you don’t truly need. Of course, you must pay for your housing, utilities, food, medicine, and insurance. However, everything else is optional.
4. Determine what you can and cannot influence.
Most of us worry about things we can’t control. There’s actually very little you can control. You can control your thoughts, attitude, and actions. Everything else is out of your hands.
Focus on what you can influence and avoid worrying about the rest.
5. Determine how every penny is being spent.
When you’re under serious financial stress, it’s important to know where all of your money leaks are
