Sometimes stress is caused by expectations not met. We think things should go one way with our finances and they go the other. When this happens, when financial reality does not line up with our expectations, we sometimes become disappointed, and stress results. Use the following tips to help you avoid money stress and lower financial stressors.
Plan to Spend your Money
Using time to think and plan is using time wisely. In fact, if you fail to take time for planning, you are, in effect, planning to fail.
As I have written before, managing money is a job, and it takes time, so plan accordingly.
Set Financial Goals
Financial goals should provide direction to your life and determine how you spend your time and money. When setting goals, decide what you want, where you want to be, and what you want your money to do. Further, when you set goals, set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and have a time constraint.)
The best goals are those that cause you to “stretch” as you do your best to reach them.
Prioritize
Use the “80-20 Rule” originated by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. The 80-20 rule says that “80 percent of the reward comes from 20 percent of the effort.” The key to prioritizing is to identify the valuable 20 percent.
Once identified, prioritize your time to work on those items with the greatest reward. If you value managing money better, prioritize the time it takes to manage it better.
Be Flexible
According to Peter Drucker, a management consultant, author, educator, and the described founder of modern management, “Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right.” Doing the right thing is effectiveness; doing things right is efficiency.
Be flexible when working your money, focus first on the urgent, effective task, then concentrate on the important, efficient task.
The tips above can help you eliminate or reduce money stress in your life. Be careful with stress it can cause mental, emotional, and physical health issues. How do you reduce financial stress? I would love to hear from you.
Lovely write-up here. Money is something that many people desire. Of course, it does help in having a comfortable lifestyle. However, different people have different theories on where money comes from. In Christianity, we believe that money is a blessing from God. God can choose to bless whomever he chooses with money & increase. Indeed, a person can toil day and night for money, but the blessings of God is able to bring an abundance of profit from the seeds that the person sows.
For example, the Bible says in Genesis 26:12
“When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him”.
God’s blessings makes all the difference. Sure, you still need to work hard, but before commencing any project, pray to God first on whether it is something he wants you to work on. Many people spend years on profitless hard labour. With God’s direction, you can get to the place & job that will bring your increase faster, and also be blessed by God’s abundance. So, how can you get God’s abundance –> You get it through obedience to God’s word and by working on your relationship with him.
The Bible says in Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”.
The Bible says in Philippians 4:19
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”.
If anyone reading is interested in building a relationship with God, I have a post on that here: https://christcenteredruminations.wordpress.com/2018/08/29/how-to-build-a-relationship-with-god/
There is much more to know about God. I post frequently on my blog about topics related to God. You are welcome to follow my blog to keep up with my content. See my blog here: https://christcenteredruminations.wordpress.com/
-All the best. May God bless you.
Thanks for the nice comment. As a believer, I believe that money is a tool to help us reach goals and not the source.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:11 -12 NLT
11Wisdom is even better when you have money.
Both are a benefit as you go through life.
12Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
but only wisdom can save your life.
Jesus is Wisdom!
The Bible says in 1 Corithians 1:24 NLT
But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Thank you for this response.