How I Overcome Financial Anxiety
We all feel anxious about money sometimes. Here's one way to improve your spending without feeling anxious.
We all know the feeling. Your heart races a little, and your thoughts race faster. Maybe you start to bite your nails or play with your hair.
Sometimes it happens because I know I’ve spent too much money on something that I can’t justify. Sometimes it happens because I feel like I’m not making enough money. And sometimes it happens when I’m planning for the future and thinking about what I can’t afford.
When I sat down to write my newsletter this week, I looked through the list of about thirty topics I’ve written out over the past few months that I thought would fit well in my niche. I opened the document where I track my February expenses, thinking I could update it ahead of my March reset. And then, I thought through all the things I spent—maybe wasted—money on this past week. I realized this is my first full month of my adult life unemployed. I thought about how much money other people make. And I just froze.
And that’s when I knew: this week’s newsletter wouldn’t be about free things to do in NYC, how to negotiate your salary, or lifestyle creep—it would be about financial anxiety and what I do to get over it.
The first thing—financial anxiety is normal. It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t worry about money, because even if you have a lot, you can always have more, and you can always have fears of it being taken away. You might not even want to read any farther, feeling stressed about about what I’ve written so far. But trust me, it gets better.
It’s something everyone experiences.
But we all feel alone when we worry about money, don’t we? It’s easy for me to compare myself to people I see on social media, celebrities, and friends—people who seem “farther along” in the money game of life. People with higher paying jobs, more expensive homes, nicer vacations.
It’s especially easy for me to feel this when walking around New York City, by the townhomes and penthouses.
I overcome financial anxiety by practicing gratitude.
Instead of comparing myself to others, I try to level set and be grateful for what I have and the opportunities I’ve been presented with. These can be small or large—here’s a few I thought through today:
I am grateful for my good credit score that allowed me to get approved for the apartment I live in, in the beautiful neighborhood that I love.
I am grateful for friends who treat me to coffee sometimes, and I am grateful to have friends that I want to treat to coffee.
I am grateful for 401K matches I’ve had at previous jobs that allowed me to save more for retirement, even if I’ve since had jobs that didn’t offer them.
Try to write a few down for yourself. For me, after writing these, now, I’m feeling better. It’s time to update my February expenses, because I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to spend that money and I’m grateful for the opportunity to adjust my spending in the future if I decide I need to.
Thanks for reading this far, and if you’re so inclined, I’d love if you would drop a note in the comments (or restack!) of something you’re grateful for this week.
Frequency. That's how I have been working to deal with the anxiety.
We place an emphasis on considering WHAT we look at (social media, the news, the markets, your budget, etc.), but maybe we don't talk enough about the frequency with which we look... the WHEN.
Sometimes the anxiety comes when I don't check my budgeting/finances for a little while.
Sometimes the anxiety comes when I am staring at my budget for an hour.
Structuring a set frequency to look/update (weekly for me) has really helped here. Also doing it in the morning, with a clear mind and a coffee, definitely makes things better.
It's tough when you constantly worry about money because t can cloud your judgement and stops you from enjoying life. You are doing all the right things!