When you are financially stressed, it feels like a mountain you’ll never finish climbing.
You’re scared that you’ll never break free and be able to enjoy the fun things in life. With costs continuing to rise and wages/salaries staying stagnant, it’s hard to hold hope for the future. I know I’ve googled thousands of times how to make passive or secondary income.
But you are not alone, according to Stuff 70% of New Zealanders worry about money. The Financial Services Council’s (FSC) latest Financial Resilience Index tracker shows that the number of people stressed about money is at it’s highest since 2020.
In this post, I will cover the following:
- What is financial stress?
- The impact it has on yourself and others around you
- Tips I have picked up which has helped us along the way
- Resources and Guides
- Contact information if you need to talk
What is Financial Stress?
Financial stress relates to when you are stressed about paying your bills, having nothing left afterwards, or not being able to pay for unexpected costs because you have a shortage of money.
Not only does it affect your mental health, such as anxiety, loneliness and depression, but it can also affect your physical health, such as tiredness, headaches and struggling to sleep.
Because it’s consuming when you are constantly worried about money.
Since losing my job, I have been financially stressed, and embarrassed when others talk about travelling or exciting purchases because I cannot afford them.
It’s hard not to compare yourself when they are discussing things like this. The key thing to remember is to focus on your journey. It’s a season, not forever.
The Effect of Financial Stress on Relationships and Social Life
Not having enough money can also affect your social life. You don’t want to go into town or have dinner with friends because it’s too expensive. You may isolate yourself because you can’t afford to have fun with friends.
However, not every social outing needs to cost money. Perhaps you can walk with friends if the weather is nice. If not, invite a friend for a mid-week dinner, you have already planned and brought the ingredients for. Or if you’re a baker, they could come round for a coffee and some baking.
Sometimes you may miss a dinner or two as it’s not in your budget, but that doesn’t mean you need to isolate yourself.
Financial stress can also affect your relationship. It’s important to sit down and create a financial plan to understand what your new budget may look like. Regularly check in with one another to understand how the other is feeling, and ways to work through any stress. Being on the same page is important.
Tips for Managing Your Finances
How to stop stressing over finances is not an easy task. It’s not easy to make more money unless you have the option of a pay rise, getting overtime or building a passive income quickly.
Alternatively, I have done the following things that hopefully can help you too save money –
No Uber Eats: I honestly didn’t realise how much money we would spend a week on Uber Eats. By cooking at home, we have saved hundreds of dollars every month. The added benefit is that I have started to hone my cooking skills, and it has been fun planning a menu for the week.
Pausing subscriptions: Pausing subscriptions like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon has benefited our bank accounts. Whilst each individual account isn’t much, it eventually adds up over time.
Shopping deals at the supermarket: Before, I wouldn’t take much notice of the deals at the supermarket and would prefer to buy a brand I liked over a cheaper one. However, some things like coconut milk are the same product no matter the brand, and you save by buying the less marketable brand.
Outgoings list: Noting down all your outgoings and the frequency will help you better plan how much you need in your account at a time. This means you are more in control of your expenses. Also, it helps show you what money you are spending and review if there are purchases that you can cut back on.
No impulse spending: When you have a steady income stream or can comfortably pay all your expenses, you seem to care less about what you are spending. Now, if I want to purchase something, I add it to my ‘want to buy’ list and leave it. I look back after a few days or weeks and realise that these purchases are “wants” and I can live without them.
Resources to Help Manage Financial Stress
I did some research to find resources that might help you ease the stress, and these are free!
New Zealand Mental Health Organisation Wellbeing Tips
Great tips on tackling financial stress and contact information on who you can talk to if you need help.
This is a great planner as it breaks down expenses into various categories such as transport, personal, food and debt. Once you’ve entered your expenses, it will provide detailed insights.
Sorted also provides other guides that can help you budget.
MoneyTalks is a New Zealand only organisation that supports those who need day-to-day financial management help. They can answer simple questions or provide you with a financial mentor.
Other New Zealand Only Contact Information
Details from the New Zealand Mental Health Organisation
Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
Samaritans – 0800 726 666
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Depression Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202 To talk to a trained counsellor about how you are feeling or to ask any questions
Anxiety NZ – 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)
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