Author: Abby Hayes / Source: fivecentnickel.com
Getting help with your finances can be overwhelming. Before seeking help from others, here are 6 ways you can gain control of your money on your own.
It’s no secret that many Americans are worried about money. Some of us are worried about how we’re going to pay bills due next week.
Others are concerned about our long-term financial future. Here are just a few sobering statistics from recent studies:- In 2016, 60% of Americans worried about being unable to handle medical costs due to an illness.
- 64% of Americans in the same survey worried about not having enough to pay for retirement.
- A full 34% were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to pay their rent, mortgage, or other housing costs.
- Another survey showed that 16% of workers spend 20 or more hours a month–on the job!–worrying about their finances.
- One 2015 survey found that 70% of college students were stressed about finances.
Clearly, a lot of us are really concerned about our personal finances!
Luckily, even if you’re in a financially difficult place, you can take some steps to get back in control. Here’s what I’d recommend:
1. Get a handle on your cash flow
We’ve talked about budgeting here on Five Cent Nickel quite a lot. But that’s not necessarily what I’m talking about here. Sometimes, you might have enough money to pay all your bills over the course of the month. But what if three bills come due in the same week? Can you handle them without overdrawing your account?
This is where you need to understand your actual cash flow.
There are plenty of ways to do this.I, for instance, use a Google calendar. I track when all our bills are due and when we’re getting payments into our account. This lets me see fairly quickly which weeks we need to be particularly careful about spending money.
Simply understanding how your cash flow works can keep you from overspending at times when your bank account looks flush. Because sure, you’ve got a lot of money on payday. But what does it look like when you subtract all those bills due between now and next payday?
For my family, getting a handle on cash flow has reduced stress around our money. It’s also helped me find new ways to economize in a way that a regular monthly budget didn’t do.
2. Start a side hustle
Some of your financial worries may stem from job uncertainty. Gone are the days when you worked for the same company for forty years before retiring. Now, the average person changes jobs more than ten times during his or her career. And most people spend less than five years in one single job.
Sometimes changing jobs is a good thing. Maybe it means more opportunity or better pay from a new job you’ve pursued. But this new climate also means some employers are more likely to restructure or let employees go quickly.
Because of this, having multiple streams of income is more important than it ever was. A good side hustle can help you achieve your financial goals more quickly while you also work full-time. And it can give you at least a small income to fall back on when you lose your job.
Side hustles…
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