Of all conversations about money, thereās a common emotion that comes up. Itās one that everyone feels alone in, that theyāre the only ones to feel this, but time and time again, it appears in daily financial conversations, reminding us that weāre actually not alone.
This feeling?Ā
Anxiety.
One of the reasons for this is that we grow up thinking that our adult life will look a certain way. We think we will either follow in our parentsā footsteps or are determined to avoid their mistakes and hopefully turn out considerably better.Ā
But the reality is that no matter what our plans or perceptions were growing up, they seldom take that form when weāre all grown up. Itās not uncommon to see people sharing their social media stories about how hard their day of āadultingā has been.
As New York Times financial writer Carl Richards once said; Almost everybody has an idea of what the financial life of their dreams would look like. Almost nobody has a plan for how to get there.
This is why so many people feel anxious about their money. They know where theyād like to be, but they donāt know how to get there.
Well, maybe thatās not entirely true. Itās like when the doctor tells us to eat more vegetables and exercise for at least an hour a day; itās information we know but donāt really have the motivation to do something about it. We can either wait for a crisis or choose to do something about it before the proverbial hits the fan.
Putting a basic, anxiety fighting financial plan into place begins really small and super manageable.
Here are four steps that weāve talked about several times before but need to hear again.
First: Pay attention to your spending.
Some people call this budgeting, but itās actually even easier. All we have to do is begin by paying close attention to how we spend money. Itās the first step to budgeting, but itās also the first step to finding wasted money and learning to confront unhealthy spending habits.
Second: Find wasted money.
As Carl Richards also says: The hard part of saving isn’t saving itself. The hard part is finding the money to save. With life having changed so radically in the last 24 months, you might very well have subscriptions or memberships that youāre still paying for but not using. You might also eat in more, and find that you donāt need to spend so much on takeout. Or perhaps your family needs one less vehicle and can cut back on the payments, maintenance and insurance costs on additional vehicles.
When youāve found wasted money, donāt simply find something new to spend it on; automate your savings, even if itās 50 bucks a week.
Third: Automate savings.
Online banking makes this concept a dream. Set up a basic savings pocket that automatically pulls the money you were spending on gym or car payments. Itās not going to hurt because you didnāt use this money for anything else anyway. But now, instead of the money going to someone else, it will start to build up into your own savings account.
These are three things that you can start doing today. You donāt need to meet with anyone, gain approval or radically change your life. All you need to do is pay attention to your spending, find wasted money and automate savings.
Before you know it, you will feel less anxious about finances, and weāll be able to have better, more meaningful conversations about money and the future.