Does the thought of untangling your finances make you feel overwhelmed?

If so, you are not alone. About 70% of Brits feel stressed and overwhelmed when thinking about their personal finances. This can stem from negative past experiences, an underlying fear of finance and math, uncontrollable debt - and many other valid reasons.

The issue here is the feeling that you are not in control and the belief that you are unable to fix the situation. But this is untrue. To reduce the feeling of overwhelm, you will need to accept that these are feelings, not fact. The feeling of fear causes the overwhelm and paralyses you from taking action to fix the situation. Below are some simple steps to start the journey of reducing financial overwhelm.

Visualise success

The first step requires you to focus on your mind. After accepting that the overwhelm is a feeling that you can overcome, you need to work on developing a positive mindset. The key element to improving your finances is by first believing that you can. You must identify when you start to think negatively and doubt your ability, and stop these thoughts in their tracks.

Visualise what you are seeking to achieve. Be detailed with your mental imagery, then write it down. Do you want to clear all your debt? Do you want to have saved an emergency fund? Clearly and confidently document what you want and believe it. Just like when you were a toddler and you were determined to walk, use a fork, put on a vest, believe in yourself wholeheartedly.

Identify the ‘now, never, later’

Here we dive into the nitty gritty of the situation you are in. Write down on one piece of paper all the issues that are a cause for concern. Keep the sentences short, detail is not required here. Next, you want to categorise each item as one of the following:

• Never: these items are outside of your control and you should discard them. Accept that you cannot control everything, and if something is a lost cause, let it go. For example: your washing machine has broken down and you can't afford the replacement, you must accept using the launderette for now.
• Later: allocate the items that are not urgent and can be dealt with later here. Ensure to write down the date that you plan to deal with each of these items. Alternatively, identify those that can be delegated to someone else such as a partner or other family member. Don’t be afraid of seeking help from those close to you. For example your partner could sort the renewal of your car insurance.
• Now: these are the pressing items that must be dealt with immediately. Prioritise these and make time to deal with them as soon as possible.

Take action

You should now be left with a smaller list of things to work through. Hopefully, seeing the items categorised into more manageable chunks brings about optimism and confidence in your ability to sort your finances. You want to make time to deal with them in the order of importance you detailed above.

Prepare for success

Don’t stop there!

Make taking responsible steps to improve your financial habits and begin to build a strong foundation for a secure financial future. Set aside a time every week to look at your finances and check you know where your money is going. Review your spending habits, then create a budget to manage your activity.

Finally, do not hesitate to seek help if you are unsure. This could be an accountability partner to help you through this difficult stage.