5 Easy Tips for Worrying Less About Money

Anxiety about money can be useful: it motivates you to work harder and spend less. But only if it is not too strong.

If all you think about is money, it interferes with life. Unfortunately, many people are familiar with this situation. Those who constantly worry about money perform worse on cognitive tests and tend to make poor decisions in real life-including financial decisions.

It’s all about increased cognitive load: the brain is constantly busy looking for money, and its resources are not enough to analyze what’s going on. But the paradox is that improving the financial situation does not always relieve this anxiety. And when there is enough money for everything you need, some people still worry a lot. These five tips can help you look at the situation from a different angle.

Assess Whether It’s Really Worth It to Worry

Clear evidence that financial anxiety happens even for those with money issues resolved is the results of a study by UBS. It surveyed wealthy Americans and found that 52% of millennials with over $1 million are afraid of a lack of money in the future.

To avoid wasting your life worrying about irrelevant problems, financial psychologist Matvey Zotov suggests checking with reality. You need to choose the statement from the list that best describes your situation:

I only have enough for food.

I can buy slightly more expensive products and can spend money on my hobbies, like using a 22Bet app for betting in Nigeria or going out with mates.

I can buy appliances. It will be tangible for my budget, but I won’t have to suffer and seek funds.
I have enough money to buy a new car with no loans.

Just the first item on this list is a sign of a dire financial situation. If you can afford expenses other than food, that’s a reason to exhale. Almost everyone wants to earn more, but it’s crucial to appreciate what we already have. Without it, life will never be good enough.

Make a Plan

If you have savings for a few months, everything is already optimistic. If you don’t have any either, it’s important to fix that. Determine how much you need to save or add to your existing savings to feel more secure. It’s important to aim for a specific amount, or you won’t even notice that you’ve reached your new financial goal.

Calculate how much of your income and how long you need to set aside to accumulate the right amount. Be realistic in your expectations. Failing to meet your plan will only increase your anxiety. The well-known 50/30/20 rule states that 50 percent of your budget should go toward necessities like food and rent, 30 percent toward other expenses like entertainment and clothing, and 20 percent toward the piggy bank. But even if you start saving a smaller percentage, that’s already a good thing.

Analyze your spending over the past few months in your banking application. Which of them can you give up in the future, at least temporarily, for the sake of savings?

Write out what ways you can increase your income. Maybe it’s time to ask for a raise or change jobs. Or perhaps your best bet is to take a part-time job. Just writing out your options can reduce your anxiety: it will show that increasing your income is not a fantasy at all.

Still, it’s best not to put off taking real action. Think about what you can do during the day to increase your income, and do it. For example, update your resume, look for information about continuing education courses, or write a message to a potential client. Even if the step is very small, it can instill confidence and inspire further action.

Explore the Causes of Anxiety

Both unreasonable anxiety and real financial difficulties are often linked to negative experiences. A child from a poor family may become a top executive with a steady, high income, but over-saving because of a constant fear of going hungry again. Or on the contrary, not saving money and going into debt because of the belief developed in childhood that poverty is inevitable.

Did someone in your family lose income when you were a child? Did your parents have to cut back on everything? What happened to your finances when you grew up? Money anxiety can be related to experiences such as losing your savings, failing to start your own business, or taking out a huge interest-bearing loan that you had to pay back over the years.

Now answer the following questions. Perhaps the answers will help you realize that your worries are unfounded:

How does this experience affect your life today?

How likely is it that something like this will happen again?

Do you now have experiences or skills that will help you overcome a similar problem more easily?
Think About What You Would Do Without Financial Constraints

In 1999, Harvard scientists asked volunteers to watch a video of basketball players passing the ball to each other and count the passes. Almost all of the participants counted correctly, but then the scientists asked them, “Did you notice anything unusual?” More than half of the participants responded in the negative, even though a man in a gorilla costume came onto the field in the middle of the game.

This experiment shows: As long as a person is focused on something, his attention is limited. That’s how financial anxiety works, too: it makes you focus on the idea that money is scarce and not see the possibilities.

Ask yourself: what would you do if you had enough money? If you knew you would never be in need? Such questions will help you broaden your focus and look to the future with more confidence. Perhaps many of your cherished wishes can actually come true right now.

Think Back to What Else You Are Rich in

What good things in your life don’t have to do with money? Write down intangible riches: personal qualities like hard work and kindness, relationships with people, achievements in work and hobbies. Try to keep a gratitude diary: every day write down 3-5 things for which you are grateful to yourself, others or just an abstract fate.

Keeping intangible wealth in mind is important because fixating on money distances one from happiness. One builds self-esteem around financial accomplishments and spends all their time trying to earn more. But in the end he never becomes happier. But close relationships with family members and friends really help along the way. Don’t forget about them if you want to be not just rich, but also happy.