How to Manage Financial Stress

Money-related stress can be the most challenging to deal with. Our financial circumstances determine our feelings of safety and security. Often, one is responsible not only for yourself, but for your family and dependents as well. Learning how to cope with financial stress can help you make practical and rational decisions when deciding which avenue to take when consolidating debt or making budgets and get back on track sooner.

Hans Overbeek, Founder and CEO of Cyber Finance says, “Financial stress can have a severe impact on a person’s overall well-being and can negatively affect their relationships with loved ones. Being over-indebted is the leading cause of financial stress in South Africa and Cyber Finance understands this. Our debt specialists are sensitive to the emotional implications of financial stress and are trained to help people get their finances under control and reduce stress.”

Cyber Finance understands how daunting financial troubles can be. People often feel alone and without anyone to turn to. We have put together some helpful practices to keep you from panicking and making rash decisions. The key to handling all major stressors is to always remain calm, ask for support where you can and keep as informed as possible about your personal situation.

Budget to reduce financial stress

Everyone suggests it because it works. Being faced with your financial situation when creating a budget may be stressful but setting boundaries for yourself and knowing where you stand, financially, will help you get control of your finances. A budget helps you decide when and how you are going to spend your money. You can make sure your immediate expenses get covered and work towards saving with the surplus or paying off debt. Sticking to your budget will be difficult, especially in the first few months, but you will get used to it and begin to rely on the structure.

Find out what you can change

Your financial issues are stemming from somewhere. You need to spend time and determine the root cause so that you can make changes. You may be having income issues, or, most commonly, you may have an issue with overspending. Often people think they are being conservative in their spending habits, but when reviewing their finances, discover hidden expenses, or unnecessary daily spending habits. For example, food can be a major cause of overspending. If you’re not a planner, you may often find yourself hungry and in need of snacks during the day. These snacks add up and can end up costing you at the end of the month.

Ask for support

Financial problems can often make one feel guilty and shameful. People tend not to ask for help because of societal pressure and to keep up appearances. However, asking for support, whether it be financial help or just advice and a person to talk to, will help you get some perspective on your situation. You may find that it’s not as bad as you’ve made it out to be! The last thing you should be doing is keeping your financial stress to yourself and pretending like everything is fine. This won’t solve your problem and you’ll just add be adding extra pressure to an already stressful time in your life.

Understand the debt cycle

In order to get yourself out of debt, you have to understand how you managed to get yourself indebted in the first place. The debt cycle can trap you into owing a lot more money than you originally planned. This is why you need to take things slow when feeling financial under financial pressure. You don’t want to make rash decisions, like applying for unnecessary loans to pay off existing debts that could have been handled had you budgeted correctly or asked for advice.

Financial stress needs to be taken seriously. Both for the sake of your future well-being and your mental health. Cyber Finance have a team of debt specialists that can help you make sense of your financial situation and take the next step to being financially free.