Hey everyone,
Something a little different from me today. Now I don’t often talk about money on my blog but obviously its a very important part of life. We need money to survive and to be able to get the things we want and need.
We all know that this can come with a huge amount of stress, trying to manage bills, essentials, preparing for Christmas and birthdays. – These things can take a toll on your mental health trying to manage it all. I personally have had times where I have been up to my eyeballs with stress, all to do with finances and so I’d like to share a few of my tips on how to minimize finance related stress. There are many options and many places that can help you, so if you find yourself here reading my blog post today – just know you are not alone and you can get help. It won’t always be like this.
- Budgeting – Make a list of all of the bills coming out before you receive your next paycheck. It’s good to include everything including grocery shopping, clothes that you or your children may need, any gifts that need buying as well as your essential bills such as rent, gas, electric, water, tv and internet. Write down how much everything will be and also write down the dates that this will be coming out of your account. I have found this to be super helpful and sometimes leaves me with a little more disposable income for example maybe one of the bills doesn’t come out until a few days after your next paycheck. So you would add that bill onto the next month and in turn it free’s up a little extra cash to get you through the current month. It’s a really good thing to have all of this written down as it takes it off your mind and you can change and adjust things on there every month. I tend to do mine on the notes app on my phone, so its always there when I need it.
2. Debt consolidation – I think many of us have fallen into debt at some point in our lives, things can add up over time. Broken household goods or repairs may need to be done when money is already tight as it is. (No one said adulting was easy eh). If you are worried about debt, it might be a good time to think about consolidating your debt and making your payments a little easier. Try to find out the total amount you owe out and weigh out the pros and cons, if you think that making one payment would suit you better then this is one route you could take. Especially if you can find a company to go through with low interest rate, this would mean you’d pay less than what you would if you paid each debt separately. Click here to learn more.
3. Become a savvy shopper – The internet is a wonderful place to find the best deals for whatever you might need so if there’s something coming up that you need to buy for, do some research first and find out the cheapest place to get it from. If you can find a discount code to use then that’s even better. Rarely will I buy something these days without a discount code. It’s not being a cheapskate, it’s just learning to spend in a better way. Something else I like to do is to buy things out of season. For example, its halloween next month but I actually purchased some decor and my children’s costumes a day or 2 after halloween last year. The products are still great but the price was even better with over 50% off, and it means I am super prepared for this year. The same goes for Christmas, there are so many fantastic sales after Christmas and it may sound silly to you, buying gifts for December in January but you can save a hell of a lot of money. You can still put thought into these gifts and buy things for your loved ones that you know they will love and enjoy but not at the expense of your pocket. My final tip is for grocery shopping, check the reduced section at the supermarket, you might find things that you usually purchase, but for a discounted price because of the date or because the box has a dent in it. Supermarkets are clever and have the same products around the shop in different placements and prices, so always look around carefully, you might see one product at the beginning of your shop and find it cheaper down another aisle.
I hope these 3 tips will be able to help you in some way to reduce your stress, feel free to message me any questions you might have.
Laura x