5 Unhealthy Money Habits That Lead to Excessive Stress
There are a lot of things that can cause worry when it comes to money. Do we have enough for retirement? What happens if the car breaks down? Can we afford to go on a family vacation this year?
Don’t let money stress scare you off from changing your financial situation. Acknowledging where we are financially is the first step to gaining clarity and reducing stress. Here are five money habits to avoid while trying to reduce stress.
Focusing Too Much on the Future
Saving for your future, having a rainy day fund and setting some money aside for an emergency are all important aspects to managing your money with less stress, but only to a point. It is crucial that we are enjoying today because we don’t know if we’ll have another tomorrow.
In addition to preparing for your future, set money aside each month to have a little fun. Whether you dabble in the music scene, have an expensive hobby or enjoy wine with friends, don’t let a limiting mindset stop you from actually living.
Trying to Keep Up With the Joneses
We’ve all been guilty of wanting something because it looks cool or we hope it will make us feel better about our life. But if we are constantly chasing someone else’s dream, where does that leave us with our own dreams?
Take a look at all of your spending and ask yourself, is this something that is truly important in my life? If so, great! If not, maybe it’s time to let it go.
And now is not the time to be worried about sunk costs that you already have invested, you’ll be saving yourself more money in the long run by quitting now versus later.
Being Stuck in a Job You Hate
Chances are your stress is high if you are at a job strictly for the pay or the benefits. We often feel like we don’t have a choice or we should be grateful if we are able to make a livable wage but I ask you, can we not raise the bar?
With increased stress, you might find yourself drinking more, have more stressful weekends fearing Monday or be unable to contribute to your household in a way your partner might prefer.
All of these events may not make the pay or benefits worth it in the end. You may also discover that you’d be able to survive off less money each month if you lived a more curated life.
If you don’t look forward to your job each week, click here for additional resources.
Hiding Money Secrets From Your Partner
When we hide things from our partners everything immediately becomes more stressful. We have to keep up with the lies we have told, hide transactions from accounts, come up with excuses for missing money and an assortment of other stressful events.
Having honest and open money conversations with your partner can result in reduced stress and anxiety, and can even help improve your financial situation.
Feel Pressure to Hit Societal Goals
Have you ever thought that you should have your student loans paid off by a certain age or that you will reach retirement by another age? The stress comes into play when we make these promises to ourselves as goals are unattainable, don’t speak to our true desires or aren’t taken seriously by following a plan.
Worse yet, we can start to have feelings of failure when we are off track in reaching these goals even if the reasoning behind the goal was societal pressure, not our true desires.
Don’t choose your goals simply by what a friend wants to accomplish or will make your mother proud. Choose one that will speak to your soul.
