Financial stress is caused by overwhelmed emotions on how to get money, unexpected expenses, how to solve problems like debts and dealing with financial uncertainty. Let’s tackle on handling your financial stress
Financial stress can bring about weight loss, insomnia, depression anxand evern relationship hurdles. One can even start withdrawing socially and others can become physically ill.
Kenya is currently undergoing an economic crisis that has seen people become stressed and depressed. A study has found that one out of three kenyans are stressed because of financial problems. How do you handle stress during a period like this?
1. FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE
Financial discipline is the act of training yourself on how to handle your finances without overusing and misusing the money that you receive.
- LIve within your means
Living within your means will help you spend less and save more. Also, it will save you from spending on non-essentials and focus on important aspects that need finances. This will help you live comfortably and you won’t struggle maintaining your lifestyle.
- Save More:
Saving more will help you get more funds incase of emergencies. This means that as the economy worsens, you’ll be able to use your savings where necessary as you plan your moves.
- Create a monthly budget
Creating a monthly budget and sticking to it will help you cut costs on unnecessary items. This will not only help you track your finances but will also help you limit your expenditure. This helps you keep surplus funds for emergencies and saving.
2. Talking To Someone
Financial stress is just like any other stress and can take a toll on someone. That’s why it’s really advisable to talk to someone about it. The someone can be family member, a professional or a confidant.
Talking to someone can open up various ideas and give you advise that you didn’t have a view of. Someone might even offer an helping hand or a connection to a solution to a problem you are facing financially.
3. Draft a plan and stick to the plan
Making a plan involves four major aspects that will make the plan work. This includes identification of problems, possible solutions, making the plan work and monitoring the progress.
Problem Identification:
This involves listing all your problems. They may be debts, overspending, unnecessary spending, inadequate income or even panic buying. These are problems that put you through financial struggles. List them and start tackling them one by one.
Possible solutions:
These are the possible solutions to problems listed above. Possible solutions can be budgeting, avoiding triggers that lead to panic buying or even getting a side hustle to supplement your income like this one
Making the plan Work
This involves putting the plan into action. If you identified the solution as to find a side hustle to get more income, this is where you start looking for the hustle and make it work.
Monitor the Progress
Ensure you monitor your progress to see if the effort is paying off. This means that the plan might not bring the results immediately but a positive progress is in place
Additionally, you should be able to manage your overall financial stress by keeping fit and eating healthy. This will also include identifying the positives and keeping them as motivations. This will overally build your confidence and keep you moving. That’s how you keep handling your financial stress