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Simple tips that could help you deal with financial stress

Quick tips to help you deal with an irresponsible spouse

Financial stress can be more likely termed as a money anxiety disorder, which is considered to be the latest American epidemic. While the market is plunging at a considerable rate, freRe-floating anxieties are increasing, thereby raising concerns to deal with the excess worries.

 

Effective Tips to Deal with Financial Stress

Well, you will find thousands of books and journals floating in the market telling you how to cope up with your financial stresses, but most of them are likely to advise you something that you already know such as exercise, yoga, meditation, etc. But again, they don’t consider the fact that you have known all these tips and tricks might feel too very pressurized to try them either. So are you thinking what can be a probable solution to these problems of yours? Well, some of the ways are highlighted below, have a look at them to find whether they can help you or not.

1. Don’t be scared

Since you know that you’re already into a financial crux, taking stress won’t help you get out of it. Instead, you can relax and think about your post-op plans or strategies, which can actually lead you out of this mess. Remember don’t fall prey to the mythical catastrophes before they even happen, as they are going to disturb you more and cause serious hazards to your health.

2. Prioritize yourself

You need to get a stronghold on yourself before you can ask your family to help you cope up with the problems. Don’t allow worries to dictate you in the first place. Try to find out probable solutions, be calm, and then approach your family and friends for support.

3. Evaluate your expenses

Chalk out your necessity budget and cut out irrelevant things that you can live without. By this, you get a picture of the basic amount you need to run your family and then look out for your debt payments. You can either take a personal loan on low interest or can shift your payments to low interest, first-year free subscription card to deal with it.

4. Savings Strategy

Creating a saving strategy is very important as it can cut back your expenses almost by 50 percent. You can start off by using discounts, coupons, and shopping on half-price days.

5. Draw a plan

After you have reviewed your debts, savings, income, and necessities chalk out a plan to make these numbers work for you. As you know, in such kind of situations only your real friends sit back with you. So, discuss the situation with them ask them to help you out with finding a solution. Of course, your family is there to provide you the emotional support. So make use of all your amenities to get a hold of the situation.

6. Say no to your credit or debit cards

Lock your credit and debit cards since having plastic money instigate the tendency to buy things even when you cannot afford. Do not take debts from banks, relatives or family members. You usually do not get an impulse to buy anything when you do not have plastic money in your pocket.

7. Make saving a habit

Many would argue the fact and it is true that if you have a fixed amount with you how would you actually save? Accept the fact that your expenses are always according to you earnings, so try to save as much as you can for your future. Invest in good schemes that guarantee maximum returns and help your secure your future. You surely do not want to kill your dreams or depend upon your kids in your old age. With your own savings, you can even help your kids get settle down in life.

8. Plan your budget

Most people practice the habit of making a budget in the beginning of a month but there is need to be very particular with you expenses. When you plan to buy something new, always think twice and see whether you can manage without it. Carry your lunch to your office instead of eating outside. Home cooked food is healthy which means a low amount on your medical bills eventually.

Spend more on your regular expenses like grocery, rent or bills. Avoid buying cigarettes, candies, electronic gadgets or expensive outfits that you don’t need. You always have an option to go for a less expensive substitute of almost all the products you use on daily basis. Make a list of everything you buy on regular basis and chose only urgent requirements to balance things up; it gives you an upper hand.

9. Pay off your debts on urgent basis

Start with the least amount you owe for a debt and make plans to save and pay off your debt. This may take months or even years to pay off all your loans but this strategy guarantees that you are moving ahead in the right direction. You can follow the same practice to pay the heavy amounts too but just do not break the routine.

10. Plan your future

How do you plan to spend for your old age? Are you able to save for your kid’s future? Are you able to buy your dream house? Do you have enough saving for your old age? How do you plan to pay your bills? These are certain questions that always keep going round and round in your head and if it is not so, start thinking now.

Learn to manage your monthly expenses without getting worried about your paycheck. You can learn the habit to save and plan to give a secure future to your kids. No doubt, it is not at all an easy task but once you start following a routine thing fall in place eventually.

 

What if Your Spouse is Financially Irresponsible?

Managing family finances demands full support and cooperation from your spouse. If your spouse turns out to be financially irresponsible, it becomes your duty to protect your spouse and your family financially. So, here are some useful instructions to deal with a financially irresponsible spouse:

1. Evaluate Yourself

Before fixing the problem, make sure you know the root cause of the problem. The financially irresponsible behavior of your spouse can stem from different reasons like drug addiction, gambling problem, shopaholic behavior etc. Therefore, it is important for you to assess the situation fully before drawing any conclusion.

2. Communicate

After identifying the problem, you will know how to fix the problem or if any intervention is required. If you think that by talking alone and making him/her realize the impact of their problem on your family you can fix the problem, then make sure you do the talking in a nice way without hurting or blaming him/her for everything.

The first step in working out the problem through talks is to sit down with your partner and talk about your concerns for him or her. When you bring up the subject of money, you are very likely to face defensive or even unresponsive behavior from your partner but don’t give up just yet. Opening up may take some time but it will eventually fix the problem. All you need to do during this period is practice patience and understand his/her behavior.

3. Show them the way

After you are successful in showing your partner the path to fix the problem, now it’s time for you to help him/her walk on that path too. Both of you need to discuss your finances and make plans to repair it by participating equally. While discussing your financial problems, avoid blaming it on your partner and instead focus on ways to pay the debts and to achieve financial security in the end.

4. Seek Professional Help

On the other hand, if your spouse becomes very unresponsive while talking about the problem, then it’s time for you to suggest counseling. Professional counseling can help greatly in getting over such behaviors and preventing its occurrence in the future.

Finally, in the event of failure of both talks and professional counseling, the only way to protect your family finance is to prevent your spouse from getting access to your family savings and credit cards. Depriving him/her of money will eventually compel him/her to get over his/her irresponsible spending behavior. As a result, it will make him/her realize the value of money and why it is necessary to avoid overspending it.

 

How to Create Realistic Financial Plans

While your dreams are uninhibited, converting them to reality would need some financial support. Therefore, if you are on the lookout for such a financial plan to fund your goals, then here are some steps that would help you get started in the right direction.

1. Differential Dreams and Aims

Although it sounds like an easy task, it is in fact a very difficult and complex process. It would require a clear mind from your end to classify the goals you want to achieve and the dreams you want to keep on imagining in your head. If you have envisioned something, but are not sure about starting it now, classify it as a dream. However, if you are ready to work on a specific dream or goal, classify it as an aim. While your dreams would not need financial support, your aims would, thereby enabling you to set aside some assets to support them.

 

2. Quantify

Once you have differentiated the aims aka objectives from the dreams, you would need to know how much money you need to set aside for each of these objectives. Calculate how much you would need to invest in each objective and how long you would need to do so as well. This would help you plan your finances better.

 

3. Review

Once you have made the necessary calculations, review the same to make sure you did not make any mistakes anywhere. Next, divide the total sum needed for a specific objective into smaller monthly sums, which would enable you to save money on a monthly basis until you get the funds needed to realize the goal. While you can save the money at home itself, putting it in a separate bank or savings account would prevent you from spending the money on other things.

 

Investment Options that You Can Try

Financial resolutions pertaining to investments would need to be carefully considered and researched about before being put into action. Accordingly, if you are interested in investing money this year, here are some avenues you could consider.

 

1. Gold

The hunger for gold never dies. With skyrocketing prices that could make the market unstable, your best and safest bet would be to invest in gold, which remains an important investment option in most countries around the world. Do not opt for gold jewelry though. Rather, opt for gold coins, biscuits or funds.

 

2. ELSS

If you are intent on saving on taxes, consider investing in Equity Linked Savings Schemes aka mutual funds. With a shorter lock in period and a better performance when compared to other options like PPF, NSC or life insurance, ELSS would also provide you with higher returns in the long run.

 

3. SIPs

Systematic Investment Plans can be a good option if you want to save money without feeling the crunch. In addition to offering you diverse options to invest in, SIPs do not need you to study the market constantly. Investing an amount of INR 500 in small ventures can help you save money and still not worry about being short of budget every month.

4. PPF

Public Provident Fund can be your way to save and build wealth in the end. It acts as a tax-saving instrument, and also offers returns that are also tax free. You can open a PPF account for anywhere between INR 500 and INR 1 lakh for a year in any authorized bank or post office. While the standard tenure of a PPF would be 15 years, you can extend it by another 5 years if you choose to. While premature withdrawals are available after the 5th year, loans against the investment are also possible.

 

5. Real Estate

Investing in property will always yield high returns in the long run. Buying a flat would also let you save money on house rents. If you already own a flat, but can still do with some money for the EMI, consider investing in another house, plot or land. You can even rent out the place and use the money coming out of it to pay the EMI.

 

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