Anxiety can corrupt different parts of your everyday life. Social anxiety can make it difficult to interact with strangers. Health anxiety (hypochondria) can convince you that you always need to go to the doctor to make sure that you’re not secretly ill. And finally, financial anxiety can make you terrified to manage your money.
If you have financial anxiety, you should read these tips that can help you improve it:
Plan Ahead
Are you worried that something is going to go terribly wrong and turn your finances upside down? Then, you should set up some simple safety nets. These are practical precautions that you can put in place to protect your personal finances and put your anxieties at ease.
If you’re worried about identity theft and fraud, you should set up strong passwords for your online banking profile. Change those passwords every three months or so. Avoid doing your online banking on public WiFi and use a virtual private network (VPN) for added protection. You should also learn the signs of identity theft so that you can catch the problem right away.
If you’re worried about an unexpected expense upending your budget, there are a few things that you can do. Leave your credit balances low. Set up an emergency fund. You can also look into online loans that are available in your state. Knowing where to apply for a loan online and what qualifications you need to get approval could come in handy when your other back-up plans fall through.
Face It Head On
Is your anxiety stopping you from managing your money? Then, you should try exposure therapy to help you conquer your fear.
Exposure therapy asks that you practice confronting something that triggers anxiety, stress or panic in you. In this case, it could be logging into your online bank account or going through your bills. The more often that you confront the trigger for your financial anxiety, the less intense it will feel. Over time, it will feel like a normal, everyday activity. You’ll look at your account balances and upcoming bills without breaking a sweat.
Relieve Your Stress
Relaxing is hard when you have anxiety. You’re wound up and tense. You feel panicked and frazzled all of the time. That’s why you need to try stress relievers to encourage your body to release some tension and to stop your mind from reeling. These are some ideas that you could try:
- Exercising
- Meditating
- Listening to relaxing music
- Doing breathing exercises
- Calling a friend
- Playing with a pet
- Get Professional Help
When anxiety starts to affect your day-to-day life, it’s time to get help. You should look into seeing a therapist. Ideally, you should find one that specializes in financial anxiety and stress. They will have plenty of experience dealing with patients just like you.
If you’re worried about the cost of a therapist, don’t worry — there are plenty of low-cost and free mental health resources out there. It will take a bit of time and effort to find the right fit, but it will be well worth it. This is not something that you should ignore.
Worrying about money sometimes is completely fine — but worrying about it all of the time? That’s not good. Tackle your financial anxiety now and get control over your money and your life again.