A survey shows that up to 72% of Americans feel financially stressed each month. People from other countries might envy those who live in the Land of the Free. But one thing that people from America and other countries have similarities is their usual stress triggers, which are money matters.
How Your Finances Can Impact Your Health
Being financially stressed makes you prone to headaches, body pains, anxiety, and depression, among other health problems. When you are in pain, feel discomfort, are depressed or anxious, it becomes difficult to take great care of your health and accomplish your tasks. You become more stressed out each day, giving you more reasons to feel unwell.
When you are financially stressed out, you tend to experience other symptoms that won’t do your health any good. This can mean you are sleeping less, eating more or lacking appetite, or turning to other bad habits to cope with stress. All these can jeopardize your health no matter how hard you try to stay active.
Money problems can also stop you from living a healthy lifestyle. You will have no energy to stay active, nor do you have enough motivation to keep up with a healthy lifestyle. You will also find it hard to nurture good relationships with others because you keep on arguing with your loved one because of money issues.
Improving Financial Health for Better Health
Thankfully, there are lots of things you can do to start improving your finances. The more you improve your financial health, the easier it is to focus on yourself and make your health a priority. If you are unsure where to start, consider the following tips.
Utilize the Expertise of the Pros
Hiring a local certified financial planner is one great way to kick start a healthy financial life. The pros will help you better understand your situation. After careful evaluation, they can offer expert advice and lay out possible options you can explore.
For instance, you are an entrepreneur who doesn’t know how to start planning for your retirement. A financial planner can help you build the right retirement plan based on your situation. With their help, you can start investing in a customized strategy that fits your needs.
Downsize Your Lifestyle
The problem with most people is that even if their income grows, so do their expenses. They try to upgrade their lifestyle along with their income. In the end, their bills increase, their savings remain stagnant, and they have nothing to spend when unexpected costs arise.
This is the sign you are looking for to start embracing a more uncomplicated and minimalist lifestyle. The more you learn how even simple things can make you happy, the happier and healthier you will be. Let go of the things you don’t need and understand that there is more to life when living with less.
Start Paying Down Debts
Debts are the usual stress triggers of many. Not being able to pay your debts can turn you into an overthinker. This is one good way to ruin your finances and will stop you from fulfilling your major dreams.
Start a debt-free life by paying your dues on time. Once you manage to pay off your debts, avoid opening another credit line under your name. From now on, only embrace good debts but be sure to assess your finances before saying yes to another debt.
Only Pay for What You Can Afford
They say the best way to save your financial health is to buy only the things you can buy with your own money. This means avoiding credit card debts and only using whatever cash you have to buy what you need. This is not to say that you should eradicate all expenses related to your wants.
Create a realistic budget that will allow you to pay for your monthly recurring expenses, save a portion for your savings, and some for your needs. For every excess fund, you have each month, direct that to your savings. As time passes by, you will find it easier to live a life you can comfortably afford.
Your financial health is one of the things that can make or break your physical and mental health. When it isn’t in a good state, you can worry yourself down to the core. You don’t want to compromise your health just because you are stressed with your finances. Remember to choose a healthy financial life and watch your health, financial, physical, and mental, improve in the long run.
