Due to rising costs, many households are stretching their dollars further than ever before. The thought of counting your pennies can feel overwhelming. Fight off the feelings of financial fatigue with the tips below.
Harness the power of income. Evaluating all sources of income helps with financial planning. When tallying your income, be sure to include any income earned outside of your day job, like your side hustle. Once all income has been listed, divide by 12 to reveal your annualized income. Evaluating income on a yearly basis instead of month-to-month allows you to plan the use of periodic income.
Make a realistic and reasonable plan. The only unsustainable plan is one that requires more income than what is expected. However, this can be the reality for many people who do not plan their spending. This would not only include monthly expenses but also expenses that happen less frequently. An example of these expenses are unscheduled auto expenses, student’s extracurricular activities and special occasion expenses including gifts, travel and parties.
Find affordable entertainment. When dollars get tight, the first cut is usually to entertainment, but this can worsen the feeling of fatigue. Finding ways to have fun that will not break the budget is a worthwhile mission. Reducing your entertainment spending is possible with some creativity. Perhaps a weekend out of town could become a camping trip. Planning trips around dates when museums offer free admission could help stretch a vacation budget. Consider visiting a city where you have friends or family with an extra bedroom.
Identify and visualize success. Financial wellness means something different for every person. Finding your version of success can help fight the feeling of financial fatigue because that vision can be turned into a financial goal. There is no quick fix, but with some planning and perseverance any situation can improve.
Ask for help. No matter what the cause of your financial fatigue, there are professionals who can help. First, identify what is causing the problem and then ask for help overcoming the obstacles in the way of financial health. It can be hard to make the first call but just think about how good it will feel to be on the road to financial recovery. Strategies are stronger when we work together. TFCU’s member solutions team can help with budgeting, credit building strategies, debt reduction and many other areas of basic personal finance.
Article by Tina Herndon, TFCU Financial Educator
About the author
Tina Herndon began her financial career managing three native not-for-profit loan funds and completed a financial counseling session with each loan closing. She served as the Financial Education and Training Manager for the national nonprofit financial counseling and education service, BALANCE, where one of her responsibilities was main presenter. In 2022, she joined the Financial Empowerment team at Tinker Federal Credit Union (TFCU) as a Financial Educator. Learn more about TFCU’s Financial Education team here.