Stress-Free Guide To Financial Well-Being

Dear friends,

This talk is designed to offer help to you if you are suffering stress or anxiety because of your financial circumstances.

Somewhere along the way,

You may have come across the quotation to the effect that having 100 and spending 99 equals happiness,

Whereas having 100 and spending 101 leads to unhappiness.

Thomas Jefferson is said to have recommended Never spend your money before you have earned it.

Before you listen to this talk,

Let's pause for one minute,

Just 60 seconds,

To allow you to bring yourself into the present moment.

You might ask yourself how you are feeling now in terms of your ability to manage your finances.

To help you become present,

Please try a breathing exercise.

As I breathe in,

I am aware that I am breathing in.

And as I breathe out,

I am aware that I am breathing out.

Let's pause now.

Welcome back.

Remember,

If you ever feel stressed or anxious about finance,

Or indeed anything else,

Please take a minute to bring yourself into the present moment by taking one or two mindful breaths.

In bringing yourself to that state of presence,

You'll be better able to face whatever it is that's causing you concern.

Financial stress and anxiety can be draining,

And it can give rise to lots of unhappiness.

So it is important to try to manage our finances so that we can live happier lives.

There are times in the year when money worries are more likely to arise.

There's the pressure of getting ready for holidays,

Or for festivals such as Christmas.

And then there's the aftermath of such holidays,

Where we find we have spent more than we can afford,

Particularly by the overuse of credit cards.

We can be left with feeling that we have dug ourselves into a deep hole,

And now we cannot see our way out of it.

It is important not to lose heart.

You cannot jump out of a financial hole in one leap any more than you can jump up to the first floor of a building.

The climb has to be one step at a time.

There's an ancient Chinese proverb telling us that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

And so it does.

Of course there are different degrees of financial stress,

And different degrees of hard-to-manage financial circumstances.

If you find that your position seems impossible for you to bring under control,

Notwithstanding the ideas which I'll give you in this talk,

Then don't hesitate to seek advice as soon as possible.

You might feel embarrassed or reluctant to seek help.

There's no need for shame or embarrassment,

Or reluctance.

Helpful advice will always improve the situation,

Whereas inaction will only allow it to drift on and cause you more distress.

Here in Ireland we have MABS,

A free-of-charge money advice and budgeting service.

MABS has been supporting people with money advice,

Budgeting and problem debt for 30 years.

I hope that wherever you live there will be some such service,

Or some advice available from social services,

Or from a charitable organisation.

Most of the time most of us will be able to bring our situation under control by taking on board some of the suggestions which I'll make to you here.

Your essential first step will be to create a sheet giving you a monthly financial view.

This will allow you to see your monthly income and expenses at a glance.

How do you do this?

You need to gather your information together.

You make a note of your monthly income from all sources,

And you make out a list of your normal monthly expenses of all types.

To establish exactly the real extent of your monthly expenses,

You might need to monitor your outgoings for a little while.

You will know about your normal monthly bills,

But some of your outgoings might slip under the radar.

Simple things like meals out,

Coffee on the go,

Mindless little impulse spendings,

These all add up over the course of a month,

And they can make a difference to the overall picture.

So apart from regular monthly expenses,

You have to take these into account as well.

And don't forget to include in your monthly figures a proportionate part of annual bills such as insurance.

If your monthly balance sheet shows you to be in the happy position where you are bringing in more money than you're spending,

Then you should allocate a monthly amount for savings.

After all,

We need to prepare for emergencies and future expenses.

This is your rainy day fund.

But if you find you're spending more than you're bringing in,

Then there are only two things you can do.

You might be able to increase your income,

But if not,

You will need to reduce your expenses.

So how do you do that?

You will need to examine your overall outgoings and find where you might make adjustments.

By dividing your list of expenses into categories,

You'll better see where there might be scope for adjustment.

You need to look to see where you can make savings.

Some of your monthly expenses might be of a voluntary nature.

Things like subscriptions,

Which you can manage to do without if you have to.

You might find that some of the utilities and services you're paying for are rolling on from one month to the next,

Over and above the original introductory rate.

Assuming you're out of contract,

You may be in a position to bring these expenses down by changing your supplier or by renegotiating with your existing supplier.

It's a sad fact of commercial life these days that customer loyalty is not rewarded with the benefits that are offered to new customers.

So remember to keep an eye on this and change from time to time as you need to.

And then there's interest.

Interest arising on credit cards can cause needless hemorrhaging of your money.

This is a total waste.

You know that interest will not arise if an account is cleared on time each month.

Yes,

It might take time to bring this under control if a large credit card bill has accumulated.

But you must try to work to bring this balance down by paying as much as you can off the account month by month until you bring yourself into a happy situation where no interest is being charged.

If you have a number of such accounts,

You might find it possible to save interest by merging them all into one account and you might just be offered an interest-free period for changing.

If you find it difficult to clear your credit card account each month,

The remedy may be painful at first,

But it is simple.

Cut up the card.

Avoid the temptation to spend what you cannot afford.

Another area where you might make savings is in these little unnoticed expenses.

Meals out.

Magazines.

Coffee on the go.

Mindless little purchases that can all add up.

It's best to stick to your budget and avoid impulse buying.

Buy only what you need and what you're going to use.

Avoid food waste.

Don't fall for the two-for-one and three-for-two offers if they're going to leave you with supplies that might go out of date.

Remember too that convenience foods and takeaways are much more expensive and less nourishing than food you'll prepare yourself.

Make use of coupons and discounts,

But never be tempted to buy something simply because it's on sale at a reduced price.

The best savings will be made by not purchasing something at all.

All these suggested cutbacks,

They're not designed to have you live a life of misery or of meanness.

They are intended to bring about happier days for you by reducing the stress that comes from finding that your spending is out of control.

Let's have a one-minute pause now to allow you to give thanks for what you have and to allow you to make a resolution to reduce your stress levels by adjusting your spending to match your means.

Welcome back.

A quote from Charles Dickens in David Copperfield.

Annual income,

Twenty pounds.

Annual expenditure,

Nineteen pounds,

Nineteen shillings and sixpence.

Result,

Happiness.

Annual income,

Twenty pounds.

Annual expenditure,

Twenty pounds and sixpence.

Result,

Misery.

And another timely reminder,

This one from Confucius.

He who will not economise will have to agonise.

I hope this talk has given you some advice that will help you to manage your budget.

I wish you success in this task and I wish you the happiness that comes from reducing the stress that arises from troublesome financial circumstances.

Just take control of the situation,

Calmly but firmly,

And know that each new day will bring you closer to your goal.

Namaste.