5 Financial Steps to Get Control of Your Money & Debt Stress

“A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry… of life.”

– Suze Orman

For many Americans, it is still a dream to achieve financial freedom and live a life free from stress and worry. The uncertainty of today’s economy has made the scenario worse in a decade.   

The Guardian report gives us a shock when it says in the last 2 or 3 months, 40 million Americans have lost their jobs. The shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have devastated our economy and created a deep and bad impact on our minds.

But you cannot sit still and rue about the monetary loss that the sudden COVID-19 outbreak has done to you. You need to chalk out a solid financial plan. The plan will be your only way to overcome the money and financial debt stress that has created a bad impact on your mind.

The article is written to help you and show you the 5 ways on how you can overcome your money and financial debt stress.  

1.  Identify your money challenges & create your budget

First of all, try to identify where you are facing money-challenges. Like if you are facing problems to repay your credit card debts, paying monthly bills, etc. Identifying the challenging spots will help you to know what is causing problems to your money and personal finance.

When you will complete the identification period, then focus on creating a budget. Budget is the best tool you have to control your finances and you will be able to stop your concern about money. A calculated budget plan will ensure you have covered all your necessary expenses and even after that, you are being able to fulfill your saving goals.

These 2 steps; identifying your money challenges and creating a tight budget according to it, will keep your financial stress and anxiety at bay.

2. Stay positive & built an emergency fund

A positive attitude can help you to be calm and fix your concerns. So, do not overthink your financial burdens like how can you pay off your debt or how can you save for your future. Rather than overthinking, create a belief within you that you are able to overcome your money and financial debt stress.

With a positive mindset and confidence, you should build up an emergency fund. The emergency fund is a savings account to meet all your unexpected money requirements and financial emergencies.  

Indeed, when you are going through a tough phase financially, setting up an emergency fund is next to impossible. But try hard to save at least $10 to $50 each month. Better, sell the unused items, and earn some money.

Try to build your emergency fund with at least $1000 to $5000 saved in the account. 

3. Be realistic about taking help from the Financial Planner 

You must take a realistic stance and try to be practical when you are going through a stress-phase. Like, if you cannot create your own budget and need some outside help, feel free to contact a Financial Planner. 

The Financial Planner will help you with a customized-personal plan with keeping in mind the long time savings and investment strategy. The customized-personal plan created by the Financial Planner will take care of your present budget along with savings for the post-retirement life.

Your personal Financial Planner will also emphasize the fact that for today you need practical and realistic financial planning to overcome your stress and anxiety. The ambitious monetary plans and arrangements must take a backseat now. 

4. Be honest and go for credit counseling service if the debt is causing problem 

People usually feel stressed and turn concerned with the debt. But the worry, the concern, and the stress can never touch you if you get the right kind of assistance from a proper end. So, be honest with your debt-related problem and search for the assistance to drive out the stress from your mind.

The right kind of assistance you can find from a credit counseling service. Professionals from the credit counseling firms can help you with how you can pay off your debt and they can talk to your creditors also if it is required. 

Like the credit counselors, there are some experts also present in the market who can help you with payday loans. The experts can help you by settling your payday debt or you may take help from them on how you can consolidate your payday loans. 

The Mind over Money Survey by Capital One and The Decision Lab has shown 77% of Americans have reported financial stress that is caused by debt.

So, be it a personal loan or a payday loan, be honest to yourself. Take help from experts if required and solve your debt problem as fast as you can.

5. You should take small steps and keep a regular track on your progress

Rely on taking small steps on your budget and keep a regular track of your progress. Just for example, if you need to curtail $1000 from your expenses and save it for the budget purpose, you may not get that money by curtailing a single expense. So, the better option is taking small steps. For example, if you try to curtail one or two big expenses with the purpose of saving $1000, it may have a bad impact on your budget.

Better, you should try to curtail small expenses and by thus save an addition of $1000. 

But only taking small steps may not work for you without tracking your progress. Check your progress regularly on how much you have proceeded towards achieving your financial goals. 

Taking these small financial steps and checking regularly your progress may sure give you a positive sign. 

All you need is a positive monetary sign that will push the financial stress and monetary anxiety out of your mind.  

                              “Financial freedom is freedom from fear.”

                                    –  Robert Kiyosaki

Remember, finding a way of overcoming your money and financial debt stress is not that tough. Just follow these 5 steps you will find your way out from mental anxiety, and worriedness automatically.