It comes as no surprise that individuals, families and even business owners are under a lot of financial stress entering 2024, with interest rates at their all-time high and inflation making the cost of living have unreal expectations from people. This can make your mind do summersaults and navigating the stress and pressure from this is the only way you can find solutions to take it all away.

It’s comforting to know that you are not alone. While a lot of people might appear to be financially fine, you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and financial stress hits home for everyone in one way or another, from unexpected house damage to debt collectors knocking on your door. Financial stress comes to everyone at one time or another. So getting ahead of the game or trying to find new solutions to find your financial zen is the first step forward and we are here to help you get through this with some easy steps.

How Do I Know If Financial Stress Is Getting To Me?

While general stress is normal and is a part of life, it can be a real cause of concern if any of these things are happening. Take it as a sign to make a change.

1. Insomnia.
2. Weight gain or loss.
3. Depression and/or anxiety.
4. The strain on your relationships with family and friends.
5. Unhealthy coping methods: drinking, gambling, trading, illegal drugs and potentially self-harm.

How To Find Financial Zen

Open Up To Someone

It’s so easy to bottle things up and try to deal with it on your own. You might do this for a multitude of reasons, such as guilt, shame or because you don’t want to make other people your problem. While you might think you are doing yourself and others a favour by keeping it bottled up, that’s not the case. Having a person to confide in can help you by not just being a good thing to cry on but also by giving you some unbiased advice that you might not have known.

Knowledge is power, especially in financial matters, where it’s all complicated and we never read the small print so reach out for advice or just someone to listen to you. It can help put the pieces together and help you realise that you are not alone.

Seek Professional Help

The beauty of the World Wide Web is that there are free resources and advice everywhere, but navigating through the useful and the old can be difficult. If you have the time to do research, then do it, but if you need to talk to someone quickly, then finding professional help is a perfect way to get the facts and answer all the questions you might have. This could take a huge weight off your shoulders and the worst thing that could happen is that they aren’t 100% sure what your next step should be.

Take Inventory Of All Your Finances & Assets

Struggling towards the end of the month is a problem that many people suffer from but ignoring all the signs is another way people can avoid the stress, such as phone calls from your bank, and creditors and leaving letters unopened will only make matters worse. You need to confront the problem head-on.

Budgeting and having a full rundown of your outgoings can help you prevent any further financial issues in the future and get a good idea of how much money you can give towards your debts or savings. It also eliminates impulse spending and sees small ways that could make a huge financial impact.

Read: Tips For Finding A Healthy Balance Between The Gym and Going Out! 

Manage Your Overall Stress

Stress as a whole can impact your behaviour to the point where you are doing things you wouldn’t normally do. This can have negative effects on your financial situation and your mental health so the best thing to do before making any big decision is get your head in a space where you trust yourself.

Here are some ways you can manage your overall stress:

1. Find a gym buddy to keep you active: running has been linked to boosting those endorphins and serotonin levels.
2. Eat some healthy and wholesome food.
3. Spend some time with loved ones.
4. Have a long and hot bath.
5. Get an early night.
6. Boost your self-esteem by learning a new skill or doing something nice for yourself.
7. Make a mood board: This could be a way of spiritually healing your mind, and this could be the motivating factor that encourages a positive financial change.

Final Thoughts

Financial stress can come in many different forms, whether you’ve been the victim of a broker scam, credit card debt or you have a huge outgoing that’s come out of nowhere. This is something in here that could help you navigate through this. The first step is calming your mind and what has helped get me through is that just under the delusion and assumption, everything will be okay. A positive mindset is the first step forward and with that mindset, you can take the right actions to find your financial zen again.