Overwhelmed By Your Finances?

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

19 May 2007 12:21 PM

You may be in a financial situation where you feel like you are getting nowhere. You may be strapped with overwhelming debt payments and no matter what you do, you only seem to be able to make the minimum payments. Or you may be trying to save money for retirement or a down payment on a house, and the measly hundred dollars a month doesn't seem to be adding up very fast. It can be very discouraging to be in a situation like this.

While you may feel like it is the end of the world. It is important to be proactive. There is always something more that you can do. It may be the little things like cooking at home for a whole week or something bigger like taking on a second job or finding another source of income. Every dollar that you can save to put towards debt or another financial goal brings you that much closer to reaching that goal. It is important not to discount the small things that you do.

It may be that you need to change your attitude from what you don't have to what you do have. A positive attitude makes everything a little bit easier to deal with. Looking for the positives in your life helps your focus to shift away from the things that you can't control, to the things that you can. If you have a positive attitude you are more likely to get out and do something about your problems as well.

Another thing to realize is that debt repayment and savings snowball. As you free up more money to apply to debt you are able to pay off your debt much quicker, especially if you are focusing on one account at a time. Similarly the more money that you save, the more interest you will earn which will increase your savings. So the little bit you can do now will help more than you realize.

Related Articles:

Celebrating the Small Victories

Are You Living Paycheck to Paycheck?

Are Your Budgeting Changes Worth the Sacrifice?

Break the Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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Nola Redd (7081) 19 May 2007 09:12 PM

You are definitely right about being proactive. Just knowing that you are in control helps counteract feelings of being overwhelmed. When dh was laid off the second time, there was a considerable difference in stress levels because we had a plan and were working together. Not to say we weren't stressed, just LESS stressed, LOL. And the stress didn't result in fights because we knew we had a plan.

Miriam Caldwell (8030) 24 May 2007 12:35 PM

Planning and working together does help to lessen the stress around finances. We are all likely to hit bumps along the way, but by planning ahead we can make it over those bumps. Thanks for your input.