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Financial Anxiety

How to Manage Money Stress: Find Relief

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First, Let’s Review What Financial Anxiety is.

Feeling overwhelmed is a normal response to financial issues. After all, struggling with debt, losing your job, or saving up for retirement is never easy. If you feel uneasy discussing money matters, you might be dealing with financial anxiety. The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Stress in America poll revealed that 72% of individuals feel stressed about money at least some of the time. When it comes to economic troubles, you are not alone. This article will discuss what financial anxiety is, how it affects you, and how to overcome it.

Financial anxiety is a feeling of unease toward your finances. APA has not recognized an official diagnosis for this condition, but it may sometimes share similar symptoms with anxiety, like nervousness, fatigue, and irritability. Several factors might cause financial stress, from medical bills to unemployment to irresponsible spending. Like other types of anxiety, some components that cause stress in an individual might not impact another. In some cases, financial anxiety symptoms manifest in less conspicuous ways, such as the ones below.

Overspending

Many people — even those struggling with financial anxiety — find temporary relief in retail therapy. Spending money can give your mood a boost, but it won’t solve your problems. Be mindful of overspending because it may become a vicious cycle that worsens your difficulties.

Extreme Frugality

On the flip side, people dealing with financial anxiety sometimes become frugal beyond reason. When this happens to you, keep in mind that there are better ways to address your problems than scrimping on life essentials like healthcare, home repair, and nutrition.

Discomfort With Wealth

People with financial anxiety sometimes don’t know what to do with unexpected wealth, including performance bonuses, insurance checks, or contest winnings. This attribute makes it challenging to create budgets or save up for future investments.

How Financial Anxiety Affects People

Anybody can experience financial anxiety, but the stress is particularly taxing for individuals trying to make ends meet. These people feel the pressure of having to pay rent, utilities, and food expenses.

While stressing about money is acceptable from time to time, it can become problematic if it affects your everyday life. Below are some of the effects of high financial anxiety levels.

Poor Physical Health

Like with other types of stress, financial anxiety can cause insomnia, migraines, and stomachaches. If you don’t address such symptoms, they could elevate into heart disease, diabetes, or ulcers.

Additionally, financial anxiety can affect your immune system, making you more susceptible to viruses, infections, and colds.

Poor Mental Health

Financial anxiety may also affect your relationships with the people closest to you because of mood swings, tiredness, and lower sex drive. If you don’t address your stress, it may lead to depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Money-related PTSD affects one in four Americans. You don’t have to undergo severe trauma to develop PTSD. Sometimes, foreclosures, medical expenses, and massive financial losses are enough to leave individuals shell shocked.

Destructive Coping Mechanisms

When financial stress becomes too much to bear, you may feel tempted to engage in destructive coping habits, from drug use to gambling to overeating. While such patterns can help you escape reality for a while, they will only make things for you.

No matter how difficult things may seem, there’s always a better way to cope with financial anxiety than harming yourself. Keep reading to discover ways to deal with your stress.

How To Deal With Financial Anxiety

Sometimes, it can feel like your money concerns will never go away, especially during these uncertain times. However, with a steady income source, a plan, and a little help from your loved ones, you can overcome your financial anxiety.

It may take some time to achieve your goals, but these steps should help you get there.

1. Identify What Causes Your Stress

The first step to dealing with financial anxiety is understanding what causes it. Which problems bother you so much that they keep you up at night? Is it your credit card debt, your increased rent, or your child’s college expenses?

When you pinpoint the source of your stress, it can help you determine your next move. You will feel much better knowing that you are doing something to address your fears.

2. Make One Financial Decision at a Time

Sometimes, just the thought of being faced with multiple critical decisions is enough to overwhelm anyone. Don’t swamp yourself with too many problems at once, or you might feel uneasy even before you have to make a decision. Instead, focus on choosing one option at a time.

3. Create a Monthly Budget

Developing a budget is one of the best things you can do to take back control of your finances. Creating one will help you understand your income and spending better, allowing you to decrease or increase spending on specific components.

For instance, you might discover that you spend too much on apps, cigarettes, or Starbucks. When you find factors you can cut, you can also decide where your savings will go. You can convert unnecessary expenses into student loan payments or retirement fund top-ups.

4. Avoid Temptation

Stay away from situations that might put you under more financial stress, like an online Black Friday sale. You might end up purchasing things you don’t even need. Remember that buying a $500 branded coat at 50% off doesn’t equate to $250 savings but a $250 expense.

5. Ask for Help

No matter how heavy your financial problems may seem, having a support system around you can help you achieve your goals. If your troubles seem too much at times, share your concerns with your family and friends. You can also check out nonprofit organizations designed to help you get back on your footing, like MoneyFit.

Get Help From Money Fit

MoneyFit has one goal in mind: to help individuals reestablish their financial stability. We’ve developed free counseling services and personal finance education programs through the MoneyFit Academy. If you ever feel down because of your money concerns, keep in mind that you are not alone. With hard work, determination, and a solid support system, you can one day overcome your financial anxiety.

About the Author

Picture of Rick Munster

Rick Munster

Rick Munster is a personal finance expert and author with over 21 years of experience in the credit counseling industry. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Financial Counseling Association of America and has written over 200 articles on personal finance. Rick's expertise has been recognized by several prominent online organizations, which have quoted him on issues related to credit counseling, debt management, and financial education. With more than 20 years of experience at Money Fit, a non-profit credit counseling organization, Rick has established himself as a trusted authority in the field of personal finance.
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You hereby authorize and instruct Debt Reduction Services, Inc. (DRS, dba Money Fit by DRS) and/or its assigned agents to:
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NOTE: This sheet is to inform new or returning clients about our services, records, fees, and limitations that may affect you as a consumer of our services. This form also discloses how we might release your information to other agencies and/or regulators. If you do not understand a statement, please ask a Debt Reduction Services (DRS) counselor for assistance.

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. (DRS) has put into place policies and procedures to protect the security and confidentiality of your nonpublic personal information. This notice explains our online information practices and how we use and maintain your information to conduct our financial education and credit counseling sessions and to fulfill information and question requests. This privacy policy complies with federal laws and regulations.

To provide our financial education and credit counseling services, we collect nonpublic personal information about you as follows: 1) Information we receive from you, 2) Information about your transactions with us or others, and 3) Information we receive from your creditors or a consumer reporting agency. We do not share this information with outside parties.

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our website and services, but we do not disclose anything that could be used to identify you as an individual.

You hereby authorize DRS, when necessary, to share your nonpublic personal, financial, credit, and any information that you provided (including any computations and assessments produced) with the following entities in order to help DRS provide you with appropriate counseling or guide you to appropriate services: third parties such as government agencies, your lender(s), your creditor(s), and nonprofit housing-related and other financial agencies as permitted by law, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. We limit access to your nonpublic personal information to our employees, contractors and agents who need such access to provide products or services to you or for other legitimate business purposes.

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. complies with the privacy requirements set forth in the HUD housing counseling agency handbook 7610.1 (05/2010), including the sections 2-2 Mc, 3-1 H(2), 3-3, 5-3 F, and Attachment A.5. At all times, we will comply with all additional laws and regulations to which we are subject regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of individually identifiable information.

  1. Services: DRS provides the following housing-related services: counseling that includes Homeless Assistance, Rental Topics, Pre-purchase/Homebuying, and Home Maintenance and Financial Management for Homeowners (Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase); Education courses that include Financial literacy (including home affordability, budgeting, and understanding use of credit), Predatory lending, loan scam or other fraud prevention, Fair housing, Rental topics, Pre-purchase homebuyer education, Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop (including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners), and other workshops not listed above.

Please refer to DebtReductionServices.org for details of our services.

  1. Limits: Our services are limited to our normal weekday business hours. We do not provide individual counseling or education services after hours or on weekends, although our education courses are available 24/7.
  2. Fees: We do not charge fees for our financial management counseling and education. However, if you use them, you may have to pay for our Debt Management Program, Student Loan Counseling, Bankruptcy Certificate Services or certain financial education courses (homebuyer education, rental topics, fair housing, predatory lending, and post-purchase-non-delinquency including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners).
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You acknowledge that this authorization will remain in effect for the duration of time that DRS serves as your housing counselor or financial education provider. You also acknowledge that should you wish to terminate this authorization, you will notify DRS in writing.

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NOTE: If you have an impairment, disability, language barrier, or otherwise require an alternative means of completing this form or accessing information about our counseling services, please communicate with your DRS representative about arranging alternative accommodations.

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Disclosure to Client for HUD Housing Counseling Services

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. and its financial education arm, Money Fit by DRS, offer the following housing counseling and educational services related to housing, personal finance, and bankruptcy certificates to consumers:
  • Housing Education Courses: DRS offers many online self-guided education programs classified as Financial, Budgeting, and Credit Workshops (FBC), Fair Housing Pre-Purchase Education Workshops (FHW), Homelessness Prevention Workshops (HMW), Non-Delinquency Post Purchase Workshops (NDW), Predatory Lending Education Workshops (PLW), Pre-purchase Homebuyer Education Workshops (PPW), and Rental Housing Workshops (RHW). These courses help participants increase their knowledge of and skills in personal finance, including home affordability, budgeting, and understanding the use of credit, as well as predatory lending, loan scams, and other fraud prevention topics, fair housing, rental topics, pre-purchase homebuyer education, non-delinquency post-purchase topics including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners, homeless prevention workshop, and other workshops not listed above relating to personal finance and housing. Course details are found below under “Housing Workshops.”
  • Home Equity Conversation Mortgage (HECM) Counseling (RMC): Via telephone and virtual platforms, we offer the required HECM counseling nationwide in addition to in-person counseling in Boise, Idaho. We also offer in-home counseling options in thirty counties across southern Idaho for an additional fee to cover our travel and additional staff time costs.
  • Home Maintenance and Financial Management for Homeowners (Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase) (FBC): Clients receive counseling and materials on the proper maintenance of their home and mortgage refinancing. Clients can find help and resources by phone, in our Boise office, or virtually on all topics related to stabilizing their long-term homeownership.
  • Services for Homeless Counseling (HMC): Clients receive phone, virtual, or in-person (Boise) counseling to evaluate their current housing needs, identify barriers to and goals for housing stability, establish a path to self-sufficiency, and connect with emergency shelters, income-appropriate housing, and/or other community resources (e.g. mental healthcare, job training, transportation, etc.).
  • Pre-Purchase Counseling (PPC): Clients receive counseling through the entire homebuying process. Assistance may involve creating a sustainable household budget, understanding mortgage options, building their credit rating, and putting together a realistic action plan to set and achieve homeownership goals.  Additionally, clients will receive materials and resources about home inspections and other homeownership topics relevant to successfully maintaining a home.
  • Rental Housing Counseling (RHC): Via phone, in-person appointments (Boise, ID), or virtual platforms, clients receive housing counseling relevant to renting, including rent subsidies from HUD or other government and assistance programs. Topics can also address issues and concerns having to do with fair housing, landlord and tenant laws, lease terms, rent delinquency, household budgeting, and finding alternate housing.
DRS also offers the following services:
  • A Debt Management Program (DMP) for consumers struggling to pay their credit cards, collections, medical debts, personal loans, old utility bills, and past-due cell phone accounts;
  • The Budget Briefing and Debtor Education Certificates that are required during the Bankruptcy filing process;
  • A Student Loan Repayment Plan Counseling and application service.

Relationships with Industry Partners

Through such services, DRS has established financial relationships with hundreds of banks, credit unions, and creditors such as American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Credit One, Discover, Synchrony, US Bank, USAA, Wells Fargo, and others.

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The client is not obligated to receive, purchase or utilize any other services offered by DRS or its exclusive partners to receive financial education or housing counseling services. Alternatives: As a condition of our counseling services, in alignment with meeting our client services goals, and in compliance with HUD’s Housing Counseling Program requirements, we may provide information on alternative services, programs, and products available to you, if applicable and known by our staff. Alternative DMP services include negotiating better repayment terms directly with your individual creditors, paying your debts as agreed, or, in extreme cases, filing for personal bankruptcy. Alternative credit and education services can be found through MyMoney.gov or the Jump$tart Clearinghouse of online financial education resources. Housing counseling alternatives can be found through HUD at www.hud.gov/findacounselor.
Finally, you understand that you may revoke consent to these disclosures by notifying DRS in writing.
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Housing Counseling and Education Fee Schedule

 

Online Education Program Fees*

Homebuyer Education Course: $59 per participant

  • Self-paced course available here, our online housing counseling and education center. Certificates will be automatically generated upon completion of the course (approximately 6-8 hours)

Rental, Fair Housing, Predatory Lending / HOEPA, Post-Purchase (Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop, including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners) Online Workshops: $49 per participant

  • Approximately 1 hour each

Other Self-Guided Financial Literacy Webinars (e.g. credit, budgeting, homeless prevention, debt prevention): $0

One-on-one Counseling Fees*

Pre-purchase Homebuying Counseling, Rental Counseling, Post-purchase Ownership Maintenance and Financial Management: $75

  • Session by the hour

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling with Required Certificate:

  • $200†

Credit Report Fee: Paid Directly by Client

*Fees for all but our online education courses and workshops can be paid online by debit card, credit card, or PayPal or in person by cash, check or money order to: “Debt Reduction Services, Inc.” Registration fees are non-refundable 24 hours or less before the start of an in-person course or workshop. Certificates are non-transferable

*Fees may be waived for households with income of 150% or less of that identified on the US Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines Page

†Home visit counseling is available in 30 southern Idaho counties for potential HECM borrowers at additional costs to cover our travel (IRS reimbursement rates apply) and staff time ($50 per hour or fraction there).

Close

Housing Counseling and Education Fee Schedule

 

Online Education Program Fees*

Homebuyer Education Course: $59 per participant

  • Self-paced course available here, our online housing counseling and education center. Certificates will be automatically generated upon completion of the course (approximately 6-8 hours)

Rental, Fair Housing, Predatory Lending / HOEPA, Post-Purchase (Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop, including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners) Online Workshops: $49 per participant

  • Approximately 1 hour each

Other Self-Guided Financial Literacy Webinars (e.g. credit, budgeting, homeless prevention, debt prevention): $0

One-on-one Counseling Fees*

Pre-purchase Homebuying Counseling, Rental Counseling, Post-purchase Ownership Maintenance and Financial Management: $75

  • Session by the hour

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling with Required Certificate:

  • $200†

Credit Report Fee: Paid Directly by Client

*Fees for all but our online education courses and workshops can be paid online by debit card, credit card, or PayPal or in person by cash, check or money order to: “Debt Reduction Services, Inc.” Registration fees are non-refundable 24 hours or less before the start of an in-person course or workshop. Certificates are non-transferable

*Fees may be waived for households with income of 150% or less of that identified on the US Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines Page

†Home visit counseling is available in 30 southern Idaho counties for potential HECM borrowers at additional costs to cover our travel (IRS reimbursement rates apply) and staff time ($50 per hour or fraction there).