7 Tips To Improve Your Financial Wellness

Talking about money is one of those topics that can be really hard for many people to address, especially when you are trying to improve your financial wellness.

It certainly was tough for me to talk about money a while ago, after the 2008 Recession.

We found ourselves in a challenging situation with a sudden loss of 65% of our income. I didn’t want to tell anyone that we were in that situation because I feared people would judge us.

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I became the only provider for the family, and my husband, a stay-at-home dad taking care of our two children. We never planned to do things that way.

We had too many bills to pay and not enough money coming in. I was scared, anxious, and some nights I couldn’t even fall asleep. I would cry in silence, letting the tears run into my pillow, and disappear in the darkness.

There were times that I didn’t want to go to work because I had a very stressful role. But I had no options. We had a lot of financial responsibilities. There were two car loans, student loans, credit debt, a mortgage, our two children, etc.

We had made a lot of commitments with our money, based on our pre-recession high income. An income that we never thought was going to be suddenly taken away by a layoff.

If you want to improve your financial wellness, I would like to share with you these tips that will help you move in the right direction.

7 Tips To Improve Your Financial Wellness

1.- Don’t Commit Your Future Income Today

I never expected that there was gonna be a recession. To be honest, 11 or 12 years ago, I had no idea what a recession was.

The 2008 Recession really taught me a precious lesson. In life, you should not make future financial commitments based on your current financial situation.

You simply don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

2.- Don’t Take Your Income For Granted

We lived a comfortable lifestyle and made purchases on credit because we had the income to afford the monthly payments. We had some money in savings but evidently not enough to survive unemployment.

I never imagined how catastrophic the loss of a job can be. Still, now, 11 years later, I look back, and I’m grateful for that happening. That time taught me a lot about establishing the right priorities, budgeting, and saving money.

Our recession also taught me never to take your job for granted. It also opened my eyes to the possibility of living a great financial future debt-free.

Because the reality is that I made enough money to pay for our necessities, but not enough to cover all the debts. And it was the debts that were taking my financial peace away.

3.- Find Someone You Trust To Talk About Money

Living “in the hole,” that’s what I call that dark phase in our financial life, is terrifying in itself. Besides, I didn’t want to share our situation with people for fear of being judged.

From the outside, everyone looks like they got it all together. They have the cars, the house, and the designer purses. They post fantastic pictures of their vacations and fun weekends on social media.

Because of what you see, you think everyone has it figured out. You must be the only one who’s struggling financially. But I’m here to tell you that’s just a lie.

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Most people will go on for years putting up a facade, pretending like they’re thriving when they’re really not.

Instead of comparing yourself to other people’s appearances, find somebody you can trust and share your current situation. Don’t carry the weight on your shoulders, that’s debilitating.

Find somebody that is genuinely winning with money, it could be a friend, a family member, or an acquaintance, and confide in them.

4.- Cut Down Your Lifestyle

According to a 2019 survey, Americans overspend to the tune of $7,500 per year. I know people that make over $15,000 a month and live paycheck-to-paycheck. And I know people that make $4,000 a month and are debt-free.

Most people won’t cut down their lifestyle. Instead, they will use credit cards, just like we did, to supplement their income.

For many of us, it takes a sudden loss of income to wake up. It certainly was like that for me.

I thought that as long as you wanted to work, there would be work. Unemployment, in my mind, was a choice. But when my husband got laid-off during the recession, my perspective changed.

If you make $50,000 a year, don’t live a $50,000 lifestyle. In reality, after you pay taxes and take deductions for medical benefits and 401k, you are bringing home more like $37,000.

That is a big difference!

Understand your actual monthly income and live below your means.

5.- Get New Information

Thanks to the 2008 Recession, I think very differently now about money.

If you find having feelings of stress, anxiety, fear, discontent, frustration, lack, not-enoughness, I understand you.

I have been there, and it gets very lonely. It’s a dark place because you don’t know what to do. You just don’t have the right information. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be there.

My husband and I had made financial decisions based on the information that was popular at the time. That was the best info we got through conversations with friends and messages on the media.

I am talking about “taking advantage” of 0% financing to buy a new car.
Using credit cards to build credit and “earn” points and miles. Purchasing a home with zero down, because that’s supposed to be a great VA benefit.

All of that was a mistake!

We were doing all those things, and I thought we were thriving financially. From the outside, it appeared that we where.

But when your income goes away, the house of cards you have built on credit comes crashing down.

I realized we were not building our foundation with strong financial principles. It wasn’t until I experienced debt limiting our options that I understood the real risk of financing anything.

Then, I decided to learn everything I could about money and to understand how to really manage it right.

The best advice I can give you is to earn it before you spend it.

6.- Make A Plan For Your Money

If you really want to stop stressing about money, you need to bring certainty to your life. To do that, you need to understand where you stand, financially, and where you want to be in 5, 10, and 20 years.

The first step is to create a monthly budget and stick to it, then start a savings emergency fund, and make it a priority to pay off all your consumer debt as soon as possible.

When you don’t have any payments, you have money to advance other goals, like saving for emergencies, invest in retirement, or a 529 College Fund for your kids.

I don’t want my children to graduate college with $100,000 in student loans. And I certainly am not counting on my Social Security benefits to finance a comfortable retirement for myself.

7.- Be Open-Minded

I cannot tell you how many people argue with me about credit card use, points, and miles. They tell me that I am making a mistake by not using them because I am wasting the opportunity of saving money redeeming those points.

I have learned that when you need to spend money to save money, you are really not benefiting. It has been proven by many studies that people that use credit cards overspend.

Credit card companies are in the business of making money, not losing money. The only way they “give” you points is because they are actually profiting from you.

But many people have bought into the credit card benefits idea, and they will never change their minds.

If you really want to win with money, be open-minded to conversations like these and many others.

I didn’t think it was possible to buy a car and pay cash for it. We have done it twice now. If I had not changed my thinking, I would have spent the rest of my life having a car payment every single month.

Imagine what you could do with your income if you didn’t have to make all the payments you do every month? How could you invest it to create more wealth? How could you use it to enjoy it and not chain you down to debt?

Conclusion: 7 Tips To Improve Your Financial Wellness

I want you to live out your best financial future and I know that being in debt and not having a plan for your money will prevent you from living in financial peace.

Follow these tips, and you will definitely see an improvement in your financial wellness:

1.- Don’t Commit Today Your Future Income
2.- Don’t Take Your Income For Granted
3.- Find Someone You Trust To Talk About Money
4.- Cut Down Your Lifestyle
5.- Get New Information
6.- Make A Plan For Your Money
7.- Be Open-Minded

If you want to understand better where you stand, make sure to download my Free Self-Assessment Tool. It will teach you how to determine the status of your current finances and establish a plan to win with your money.

As always, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. I answer to all personally.

Listen to my podcast and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more tips and motivation on smart finances for high-achieving moms.

Related Articles To Improving Your Financial Wellness

• The Budget Pad: Organize your Income, Track Expenses & Save Money
• The Debt Snowball Method
• How to Save Money and Stop Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck
• How To Do A Monthly Expenses Snapshot

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7 Tips To Improve Your Financial Wellness