There are plenty of things that can influence your happiness levels and all-around ability to enjoy life, but some things have a greater influence than others. Take money, for instance. You’ll be much more likely to live your best life if you’re not continually worried about your financial situation. Indeed, if the money side of our life isn’t quite in order, then we’ll be plagued by anxieties and worries.
The good news is that you don’t have to just accept your financial circumstances. There are things you can do that’ll help to push it in the right direction and which will also make you feel good about your money situation. In this blog, we’ll run through thirteen things you can do that, all together, can have a profound impact on your relationship with your finances. Ready? Let’s dive in.
What Are The Positives?
When things aren’t perfect, it’s easy to focus on the negatives. However, it’s important to remember that just because things aren’t perfect, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a disaster. It could be that, on balance, you’ve got more things going for you than not. For instance, if you have a job, then you’ve got an income — and that means you have something to work with. So when you feel yourself falling into a pit of worries about your finances, take a step back, and try to look at things a bit more objectively. It could be that things aren’t quite as bad as you thought they were.
Identify Weak Points
It’s unlikely that everything about your financial situation is awful. But it is likely that certain elements of your finances are problematic. That in itself isn’t terrible since everyone has problematic spending from time to time. The important thing is that you’re able to identify what they are. If you know your weak points, then you can get to work on strengthening them. If you don’t know what your weak points are, take a look at your spending over the past few months, and try to tally up where your money is going. It could be that you’re overspending on clothes, going out, or anything else.
Changes You Can Make
No matter what your issue is, don’t forget that there will always be changes that you can make. Much of this will be to do with self-discipline and goal setting. You’d be surprised at just how much financial progress you can make just by setting a target. This will make you feel good about your money situation in various ways. For one thing, it’ll likely have a direct impact on your finances, and probably pretty quickly. The broader benefit is that you’ll get the satisfaction that comes from taking control. It doesn’t matter so much what’s happened before; the point is that you’ll feel good about your future.
Set a Budget
You’ll have a good sense of how much money you have flowing into your bank account. Whatever the amount, you’ll have something to work with. If you want to build a cash cushion, then you’ll know that you have to spend less money than what’s coming in and sometimes significantly less money. But that’s always possible. You can do this by setting a strict budget and then sticking to it. A good way to do this is to simply withdraw the amount of cash you can spend from an ATM. This makes it much easier to stick to your budget because you have a clear visualization of how much you can spend, which is something that you don’t get when you pay by card all the time.
Focus on Debt
Not all money worries are the same. Sometimes, it’s not that we don’t have enough money to live well, but that we’re spending too much paying off our debts. While it’s not the most fun way to spend your money, it’s worthwhile taking the time to pay off these debts first. You probably know how frustrating it is to have debt hanging around your neck. If you can have the discipline to pay off these debts, then you’ll get to enjoy the freedom and peace that comes from living without debt.
Switch Suppliers
It’s not just debt that can cause us to experience some financial frustration. All those bills connected to our home can be troublesome, too. But it’s important to remember that you’re not necessarily locked into spending whatever money they’re asking for in exchange for electricity, gas, internet connectivity, and so on. If there are other suppliers in your local area, then shop around! You might find that you can reduce your bills by a significant margin just by calling up and switching to another company.
Trim the Fat
They say that you should declutter your home from time to time. The idea goes that we’re always adding more stuff to our homes yet rarely take the time to throw things away. If you’ve been living in the same home for years, then you’ll probably have a lot of things. Well, the same can be said for your expenses. It’s possible that you’ve acquired many monthly expenses (subscriptions, gym, streaming, things like that). Do you need all of them? If you’re no longer using some subscriptions as much as you used to, then cancel them.
Invest In Your Future
Your money situation might be good right now, but will it be good in the future? In this day and age, there are no guarantees that your job will be for life. And if you lose your job, then you’ll be in financial difficulty. So why not look at investing in your future by taking courses, networking, and so forth that’ll make it less likely that you’ll ever end up without employment. Many of us invest in short-term pleasures, but not all of us spend the same effort investing in ourselves.
Work With Professionals
Staying on top of your money situation can be tough. After all, many things related to finances are complicated, and many of us just don’t have the skills and knowledge we need to manage various aspects of our money effectively. But thankfully, there are people who do have those skills and knowledge. They’re the professionals, and you can call upon their services to ensure that you’re in as healthy a position as possible. You can get help with just about everything. There are professionals who can help with estate planning, business accounting, tax help, and more. So if you’re not sure what the right move is, take a look at hiring someone who can tell you the things you need to know.
Potential Income
As well as saving money, it’s a good idea to look at how you can enhance your income. There is usually at least one thing that you can do. For example, could you use your assets? You can make money with your car, for instance, either by selling it and downgrading or becoming a driver. You could also improve your finances by boosting your salary by 5%. How can you do this? By asking for a raise. This is something that not many people do, but they should — employers are more likely to hand out raises in an economy that skewers towards the employee, as is the case now.
Learn To Say No
You’ll feel better about your financial situation if you feel in control. One way to do this is to learn to say no. Many people end up spending money because of other people rather than because it’s something they would spend money on themselves. If you’re always saying yes to an invitation, then learn to say no from time to time.
Money Comes, Money Goes
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that money worries are going to be a permanent fixture of our lives. But that’s rarely the case. It’s always important to remember that money comes and money goes. While you might be in a tricky position at the moment, that won’t be the case for the rest of your life. Remembering this can prevent you from falling into a state of hopelessness, which can cause you to act in ways that deepen your troubles.
You Are Not Your Bank Balance
Finally, remember that while money is important, it’s not everything. Just because your bank balance isn’t quite as large as you’d like it to be, that doesn’t mean that you’re a failure or that you need to feel bad about the position that you’re in. Your bank balance and all-around approach to finances is one small element of you; it’s not everything. This principle also applies to people who do have a lot of money, too.
Conclusion
And there we have it! There’s no denying that money does play a big role in how well we’re able to experience life and how at ease we can be. By taking some handy steps, we can ensure that we help to improve our financial situations and ensure that they don’t cause us problematic levels of anxiety.
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