8 Simple Steps to Eliminate Financial Stress
How to Quickly Make Your Life Easier, Eliminate Unnecessary Stress with 8 Simple Steps to Eliminate Financial Stress and More
Whether you are a student, self-employed, working a traditional office job, a stay at home parent, or anything else in between, using digital tools and good habits can become a routine that will help you reduce stress, organize finances more efficiently, save money, and save time.
Here are 8 simple steps to save yourself money, time, and stress that take little time at all.
Also, included are some tools that can automate much of this for you or provide you ideas. So take some simple steps to eliminate financial stress and more.
1. Plan Things Out – A great Simple Step to Eliminate Financial Stress and More
Yes, planning sounds stressful at first, but let me explain. It is easy to find templates that let you quickly keep track of habits for the day, week or month. For some ideas, check out my Etsy store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Wanderingformoney.
How does this help?
Rather than stressing about remembering to exercise, you can just check out your planner (for example) and just cross it off. You already saved some time and stress by just doing it rather than having to remember it first and waste that energy. Plus, you likely feel better.
You can also streamline planning with online calendars or other technical tools, such as printables. There are also many habit tracking apps available on both the Apple App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Samsung phones.
2. Keep Track of Important Dates and Bills (While Automating as Much as Possible)
Another great way to automate stressful topics such as bills is to utilize the many programs and apps out there. For example, It is very easy to put in a reminder to pay a bill each day of the month it is normally due into a phone or computer calendar.
There are also apps that will remind you of set dates and can work as virtual planners.
So, this way you can set it up to repeat each month and let something else remind you of when each bill is due and for how much. Rather than wondering about it, you already have it known that you will get a little pop-up reminder. And, I love setting up auto-payments for bills because they typically involve a discount or some other incentive, but they do also make it much easier to just set and forget.
A Note About Relying on Technology to Remind You about Bills and Important Dates
If you begin to develop a habit of ignoring notifications such as for apps and phone notifications (whether you receive too many or you just tend to ignore them), then do not fall into an overreliance on technology to help you. Instead, it is a good idea to strike the right balance. For example, I find it easier to write down each important event for the month on a calendar at the beginning of that month. It is a one-pager in my planner, on a calendar, or on a magnetic calendar on my refrigerator.
This way, I have a quick overview of important dates for that month. For me, it stops those “am I forgetting something moments.” Of course, technology can help as well, but the idea is finding what works best for you. And eliminates the stress and time involved with managing routine activities that may be stress causers.
This is one of my favorite simple steps to eliminate financial stress and make life easier.
3. Set Up a Way to Know Your Financial Situation Once a Month (or every few weeks)
So, I find that by laying out your income and bills via an app such as Digit, by paper, or using Excel with Microsoft Office, you can see where you financially stand each month. If every few weeks works better for you that is okay as well.
Why is this the case for myself?
- By eliminating the stress of recalculating, or being worried to recalculate it (which especially when self-employed can become a bit scary), it makes it much easier to handle and know where I stand.
- It also eliminates an otherwise scary event and lets me know if I need to get ahead of something else or perhaps pursue some extra income opportunities via a side job, microtasks, or other means to make extra money.
Related Posts
- Master List of Ways to Make Money
- Master List of Posts on Ways to Save Money and to Save Time
- 5 Part-Time Job Ideas to Earn Extra Income
- 5 Microtask Jobs – Quick Tasks for Extra Money
- 6 More Microtask Jobs to Do Online
- 8 Ideas for Temporary Jobs for More Pay
- Lessons Learned in Looking for a Side Job
Also, visit my Master List of Referral Codes. Because taking advantage of sign-up bonuses is a great boost to earning some extra income and a simple step to tackle financial stress.
4. Take Care of Any Financial Woes ASAP
This may not sound like a simple step to help make your financial life easier because it is scary, but there are MANY free resources to assist here. One suggestion is to check with local state agencies. Another is not to put it off; even if that takes putting in a reminder onto your calendar. The sooner you have the information, the easier it will be to eliminate the financial stress that comes with worrying about potential issues.
5. Set Aside Some Amount Time A Few Days Each Week that’s For You
Go do your favorite hobby or just relax. It is important to take time off for yourself. Also, you may discover a new passion and who knows where that can lead. For example, I discovered that I love taking pictures. From there, I then tried out stock photography and loved it!! t
For some suggestions on apps to use with stock photography, check out this post.
Also, consider checking out sites such as Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com for some fun ideas on new activities to try out at a discounted rate.
6. Develop Healthy Habits
Developing healthy habits is a small step to eliminate financial concerns that are too often overlooked. These can be small steps. Maybe it is going outside for 5 minutes a day to get some sunlight or using a 7-minute workout app. But they can help you get in a better routine AND feel better. And remember: if you do not hit the ground running, do not judge yourself, just keep trying.
Related
Check out these 7-minute work out apps for a few ideas:
- 7 Minute Workout by Wahoo Fitness
- This is available on the Apple App Store here.
- 7 Minute Workout: Fitness App
- Seven – 7 Minute Workout
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Check out this post on mood-related apps for some ideas in developing good habits by tracking them.
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Check out these meditation apps as well (some have ones you can do while walking, cleaning, commuting, etc.):
- Headspace
- Calm
7. Keep Multiple (Daily) Decisions to a Minimum
Studies show that wearing the same outfit helps people by eliminating a decision from their everyday routine.
You can also plan your weekly meals in advance and utilize recipe advice. So then, when grocery shopping, you only need to get a few key ingredients and spend less time planning each day and less time grocery shopping.
If that sounds hard, check out some meal planning apps or just do a good old fashion planning at the beginning of each week.
This way, you have all the meals planned upfront and can even make some recipes or portions of them in advance. So what is the benefit here? It can save you time and is another great simple step to eliminate financial stress. Now you have more time to focus on other things that matter. Also, it can be a great way to save money as you do not waste food.
8. Cut Out Unnecessary Expenses
Apps are available for finding subscriptions you do not use and suggesting you cut them out such as Mint, Digit, and more.
But I also recommend just reviewing your bank statement and looking at where you are spending your money. If you are subscribed to a few similar types of services, by canceling one, you can save money every single month in one quick phone call.
Another suggestion is receipt scanning apps. Why? Since they get you to look at your spending, it can help you see where you may be overdoing it. For more on receipt scanning apps to try out, check out this post.
Final Thoughts on Simple Steps to Eliminate Financial Stress
Do you have any ideas on other simple steps to eliminate either financial stress or simply make your everyday life easier? What has worked for you? If you have any thoughts, suggestions or questions, contact me here.
Also check out my other posts on ways to make money, ways to save money and time with online tools, and how to save with organizational tools.