How to Combat Financial Stress
It is common to experience some level of financial stress, and we know that constant worry can take its toll on your ability to concentrate and be present at work. We’ve pulled together a few simple budgeting strategies to help you get on top of your financial worries and better manage your money.
Creating a budget
Budgeting: common knowledge, yet fairly underutilised. The key to creating a budget is ensuring it is feasible and realistic; you must account for non-necessary factors such as entertainment (dinners out, movies, clothes) as much as you do for expected costs such as bills and rent. You need to know exactly how much money is coming in, and exactly how much is going out – and yes, that includes your daily coffee on the way to work. A great way to determine your average weekly spend is by keeping your receipts and filing them according to sections (supermarket, bills, clothes, meals etc.) and from there you can tailor your budget accordingly to. Getting your family involved is a great way to not only ensure you can reach your saving goals, but also teach others about the importance of budgeting and managing their finances in the future.
Saving
We all want to save for a house, a nice car, a holiday, and while those things are enticing we need to save an emergency fund first. An emergency fund is a necessity and will be of great comfort to you in a number of unforeseen situations – from medical expenses, job layoffs to unanticipated necessary travel. While determining how much you can save, you need to also take into consideration your retirement fund – how much should you be saving for your retirement? You need to calculate this by your age, your monthly income, and the age you aim to retire. Both of these saving factors can be achieved by putting aside an amount per pay check, and after a few months your spending and budgeting will adapt according. We are all guilty of using our savings in a moment of weakness, but a great way to ensure it is more difficult for you to access that money impulsively, is to place it in a bank account that requires a signature in person to withdraw any funds.
These tips are easily integrated into your daily life, and a small amount of effort and research into where your money is really going will save you a considerable amount in the long run. Similar tips and resources to promote financial wellbeing, as well as other aspects of employee wellbeing are still available on our Asia Employee Wellbeing Week virtual platform until the 12 November. Log in now to learn more about how to build a successful #LifeInTune!
About the Author: Written on behalf of Community Business by Samantha Mei Topp.