It is a sad reality of life that more people than ever before are stressed, depressed, or suffering from any of the other mental illnesses that affect our overall happiness. This should be a golden age for mankind; the world is safer, better educated, better fed, and better provided for than at any other point in history. Yet the numbers show a sharp increase in unhappiness in recent years. What could be causing this unhappy trend? Money is everywhere and nowhere, all around us but not often enough in our own pockets. Here are some of the money worries that cause stress – and what you can do about them.
Source: Pexels.com
Bringing Home the Bacon
What we do for a living is hugely important to how we define ourselves. We spend so much time at work, or getting to and from there, that we should be handsomely compensated for it. Alas, that’s not always the case – and even if it is, it’s sometimes not enough to alleviate our stress and worries about money. We tend to fill our budget related to how much we earn. If you have a job that pays $40,000 a year, you’ll assume a $40,000 a year lifestyle. When things get pricier, as they always will, you’ll be trying to keep up with a game that is rigged against you. Try to live in accordance with what you actually want, rather than what your wage suggests – and remember that there’s no shame in living cheap even when on paper you have a well paying job.
Settling Down
At some point in all our lives, we put behind our youthful, swashbuckling lifestyles and look to put down some roots, to create some longer lasting than the fluid lifestyles of our twenties and early thirties. This requires a lot of money to get underway, but this actually isn’t the cause of financial stress – it is the commitment to being financially secure for the rest of our lives that really gets us. Every month we’re aware that we have to make a minimum amount of money or we’ll eventually be at risk of losing our home. If you think that buying a house might cause you more long term stress than you’d like to have, you always have the option of pursuing an alternative housing solution. There’s plenty of cost effective housing ideas being bandied around, which can save you money, give you a home, and brings no additional worries.
Unexpected Financial Burdens
You may have a well paying, high flying job, but even the most secure worker is at risk of falling prey to financial worries. Unexpected financial burdens, such as death of a loved one, accidents at home or in a car, or even more complicated issues such as unexpected children, can affect our financial standing in a matter of days. An injury at work might cost you your livelihood forever if, for example, you work with your hands and they’re permanently injured. At times like these, it’s important to turn to friends and family for support and to the professionals for help: discuss your financial movements with your accountant, contact auto accident attorneys to ensure you get the money that’s owed to you, and discuss your future employment options with a career’s adviser should your current livelihood become untenable. Remember: the best way to combat new financial burdens is to be proactive.
Being Fashionable and Cool
One of the biggest things that can cause money worries and stress is something that we all, to varying degrees, opt in to: the allure of being fashionable, cool, and trendy. Even if we’re not determined to be at the cutting edge of what’s hip, most of feel a sense of duty in, at the very least, not falling behind social expectations of what clothes we should be wearing, cars we should be driving, where we should be living, and so forth. For some people, this is just the cost of not being a social outcast. For others, having to buy expensive shoes to fit can be a real source of worry. While it’s unrealistic to be able to ignore all adverts and not care whatsoever what others think of what we own, we can choose to not let it affect us too much. Before you buy something, ask yourself: am I buying this for me, or for the rest of society? Taking a short step back will save you money and might just ease your stress a little bit too.
Leave a Reply