Financial instability affects people from all walks of life and it is no secret that financial distress can cause a plethora of health issues, such as putting you at a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, depression, and even digestive issues. When one is under a lot of financial stress, they may find it difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But rest assured that there is always a way to conquer your financial burdens.
Financial Stress: Who is Affected?
If you’re currently experiencing financial stress, know that you are not alone. After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, nearly half of Canadians admit to the virus affecting their financial stress, and nearly a third of Canadians admit to working with a financial professional. In fact, 38% of all Canadians say that money is their biggest worry.
As much as 31% of Canadians say that financial stress caused them to have health issues, from mental health to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes or even heart attacks and strokes. But those aren’t the only areas of your life that financial stress can affect. Stress related to finances can also affect your relationships, sleep habits, as well as your productivity at work. It’s therefore extremely important to seek help as soon as possible, so that you can go back to leading the life you deserve.
How to Overcome Financial Stress
When dealing with financial stress, your first priority should be to reduce it. In fact, eight out of ten Canadians have already taken the necessary steps to better their financial situation. As for the other 20%, they might not even know where to begin. When it comes to reducing financial stress, 39% of Canadians believe paying down their debt would help, and another 39% believe setting money aside is most important.
Luckily, there is a way to hit two birds with one stone!
1. Track your spending
The first and most important step to conquering your financial burdens is to track your spending. This means creating a budget with which you can calculate all of your expenses and your income. In doing so, you can track all of the money that comes in and out of your account. It is only once you do this that you can start making a plan.
Once you identify all of your expenses, you can then establish where the problem lies and determine whether or not there are ways to either increase your income or decrease your expenses — like getting a new job, a new phone or internet plan, or even selling your car in favour of public transportation. Once you’ve adjusted your spending, it’s important to review your budget regularly and plan for unexpected costs. This means making enough room in our budget to set money aside in case of emergencies.
2. Manage your stress in healthy ways
An important step to conquering your financial burdens is to manage your stress in healthy ways. It is not uncommon for those dealing with a lot of financial pressure to turn to things like smoking, drinking, overeating, or even “retail therapy”… which can evidently lead to more harm than good. Although these methods may give you pleasure in the short-term, these behaviours will put you under more financial stress and will cause a vicious cycle to form. It’s therefore important to find ways of managing your stress in healthy ways. Consider exercise, spending time with family and friends or speaking to a mental health professional before the problem worsens.
3. Seek out the right tools
While it may be wise to seek the advice of a financial professional when you really feel like there’s no way out, there are online tools that will analyze all of your finances, offer you personalized advice based on your situation, and help you monitor your progress. Asking a financial professional for advice can be daunting — these tools were designed to help you get your finances back on track before you ever need to.
