It’s important to be aware of how finances can impact your broader life, but don’t let that discourage you. With effective budgeting and a new mental approach, you can build a financial foundation that’s strong enough to last a lifetime. Here are some financial wellness tips to get you started with your financial planning.
Smart Spending for Improved Mental Health
A good first goal is getting your spending under control. When your monthly expenses are consistently less than the amount you earn, it becomes possible to save for the future, spend on things you want, and handle unexpected expenses when they arise. Those can all be great for your mental health.
Start by looking at how much money you’ve spend in our needs, wants and savings over the last few months. You may immediately notice that you’re spending too much on what you want or not allocating enough to savings to achieve your goals.
Just having awareness of your spending habits is often enough to begin changing them. The goal should be finding a sustainable financial balance that can keep you on track in all areas of your life.
Develop a Strategic Plan for Goal Achievement
Once you have your spending under control, you can begin thinking more about your medium and long-term goals. Those might include saving for a mortgage down payment, going on a fun vacation, or retiring by a certain age.
The key to eventually achieving goals like these is developing a personal finance strategy and sticking to it. For example, some budgeters use the 50/30/20 rule. This says that you should spend:
- 50% on needs like housing, utilities, and food
- 30% on wants like entertaining and travel
- 20% on savings and investing for medium and long-term goals
This plan doesn’t have a natural space for high-interest debt. But you can always reduce your savings and investing bucket until you’ve paid off the debt and reached a good credit score. Ultimately, the details of your plan are less important than the fact that you have one. The main thing is choosing a sustainable financial strategy and not deviating from it until you’ve reached your desired financial wellness goals.
Coping Strategies for Financial Stress
We all feel stressed about finances from time to time. But for some people, that stress rarely seems to go away. If that’s how you feel, then finding a healthy coping strategy is important.
Your coping strategy should include both plans for dealing with the feeling of stress you’re having now and a long-term solution so it doesn’t keep coming back. For example, you might speak to a therapist or a trusted family member about your stress to get some relief and advice. Other people relieve stress by working out, meditating, or getting more sleep.
At the same time, think about how you can change your life today to avoid similar financial stress in the future. That could mean getting a new job, going back to school, or reducing your expenses by spending less at the grocery store or moving.
