PRACTICING FINANCIAL SELF-CARE

WHAT FINANCIAL SELF-CARE?

Financial self-care is taking the time to set yourself up with good financial habits. These will so help you achieve your financial goals. When people do not have their finances under control they can experience a lot of stress. This can lead to depression or anxiety. This stress does not only apply to those with a low income or small net worth. Anyone can experience this stress when they don’t have control over their finances. Actually, at higher income and net-worth levels, there can often be an equally larger amount of stress because there is a lot more to lose.

Just as it can be stressful working with a low income and not really knowing if you are making the best use of each dollar, it can be just as stressful earning a high income and not really having a handle on where all that money is going. Financial self-care is important no matter where you are in your financial journey. So, while it may not seem like it at first thought, having your finances under control is just as important to your self-care as rest and living a healthy lifestyle. Today I will go over some financial self-care practices you can implement in your life. 

TRACK YOUR EXPENSES AND UPDATE YOUR BUDGET

If you are just going through life day-to-day and do not really know what is coming in and going out, it can make you feel uneasy about all purchases because you really have no way to know how much you can afford to spend on anything. Even if you have a budget, but are not keeping up on it, that can add stress too. You may be worrying about how you are doing compared to what you had planned on. It’s important to put aside time to track your expenses and maintain a budget on a regular basis. You will feel much more in control of your money. Being more aware of your income and expenses helps you make better decisions on your spending habits.

HAVE A PLAN TO PAY DOWN DEBT, OR STAY OUT OF DEBT

If you have any debt that needs to be paid down, it is important to get a plan laid out. Even if the amount is large, don’t let it overwhelm you.  It is best to get it laid out on paper and come up with a realistic plan. If you are not currently in debt, make sure to be mindful of your spending. This will help to make sure you stay out of debt.

Debt causes stress and it puts pressure on your budget. It causes you to allocate a portion of your income to cover those payments. By having a plan in place, you can put your mind at ease knowing that there is an end in sight. Your plan to pay down your debt might take an extended period of time. But, it is still better to have a plan with a rough timeline, than to feel like you will always have this burden.

CREATE A BARE BONES BUDGET TO BE USED IN AN EMERGENCY

In addition to your regular budget, it’s a good idea to create a barebones budget. This is a budget that cuts out everything that is not essential.  No dining out, no Netflix, and no fancy coffees! By having a stripped-down budget, if a financial emergency were to arise, you would at least have a plan in place laying out the very minimum that you need to survive on for the short term until you can recover.

ESTABLIBISH SAVINGS GOALS

Having savings gives you peace of mind to know that you have somewhere to pull from in an emergency. It also feels great to save up for a nice vacation, a home improvement, or any other type of expense that you might be looking forward to. By having savings goals that you are working on, you will feel much more in control of your money.  You will be more likely to be intentional with your spending so that you can devote money towards your savings goals.

HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR RETIREMENT

It’s a good idea to sit down and do a projection of what your retirement savings will look like at your expected retirement age. You don’t have to get crazy with details, but using an estimated growth rate, and future contributions you can get a pretty good idea of what you will have when you retire. Sitting down and looking at your projection can help you either feel comfortable with the amounts you are putting aside for retirement or cause you to put some thought into coming up with a plan to try to increase your contributions.

MOST IMPORTANTLY JUST MAKE SURE YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION

Your financial situation and plans will continue to develop and change over time. The more you track your expense, the better you will be at budgeting. Over time your budget will get more and more refined, as you catch things that were missed in previous versions. The idea of financial self-care is not about perfecting any of these aspects of your financial life. It’s about paying attention to these things.  Making sure to devote some time each week to go over your finances and your financial goals. By devoting time to financial self-care, you will have a much better understanding of where you are at and where you are going financially. Taking away the unknown makes life a lot more simple and can definitely reduce stress caused by money.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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