Love Thy Self: Practice Financial Self-Care

Experiencing stress is a part of being human. We need some pressure to push us, but too much can lead to anxiety and depression.

While it's normal to feel heightened stress levels when we're in danger, excessive strain can damage our physical health, wealth, and quality of life over a long period.

There are numerous physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care strategies you can use to help reduce the toll stress takes on you.

In this article, we'll take a look at some financial self-care practices that can protect your health and wellbeing from extreme financial stress too.

What is Financial Health?

Financial health is a relationship in which you and your money are in sync with each other.

Being financially well is achieving a state where your money is working for you rather than against you. This is the ultimate goal of any personal financial management plan.

The idea of financial wellness is really about understanding how money and your life interact.

It involves identifying what you want in life and determining a financial plan to get there.

It's also about understanding your money story, prior financial decisions, the role money plays in your life, and how it affects your relationships, work, and happiness.

Most of all, it's about taking control of your finances, developing good money habits, and maintaining an active role in how your money is working for you today and for the future you in years to come.

Are You Financially Fit?

While you might be able to quickly tell by the balance in your checking or savings account, there are a few other key elements that can reveal if you're in a state of good financial well-being. Or if you need to perform some emergency triage.

Besides your financial net worth, you can gauge your economic health by considering:

• How often you check in with your finances
• Whether you focus on the future or are living in the past or only the present
• Your beliefs about money, and how you think about, talk about, and use money
• Your willingness to ask questions and commit to learning more

Check out our full article on How Can I Tell if I Am Financially Healthy? for more information and insights.

To gain control of your money, you must know its current state – no matter how strong or unhealthy it may be.

If you determine you aren't as financially well as you'd like, you can practice self-love and improve your money situation today.

If your personal finances are sound, consider helping a willing family member, friend, or co-worker learn more to help them achieve that goal! Financial self-sufficiency is something we can all aspire to. 

Self-Care Ideas to Boost Financial Wellness

A walk in nature, a soak in the tub, and adequate sleep can all help you feel better and enhance your mental health when you're experiencing stress.

Yet, other forms of caring for yourself are required due to overwhelming pressures brought on by untamed money matters.

A combination of nurturing practices can help improve your overall well-being.

13. Explore how your personality type could be affecting your money

14. Create a plan to build your emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses

15. Open a Roth IRA to start investing for more tax-free money in retirement

16. Increase contributions to your workplace 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings account by 1-2%

17. Automate your finances

18. Discover unclaimed or lost money you're owed

19. Install a shopping app like BeFrugal to save when spending

20. Develop a credit card debt payoff strategy

21. Plan a staycation or road trip to save money on your next work break

22. Compare salaries for your position on Blind or Glassdoor

23. Update your LinkedIn profile with recent accomplishments and new skills

24. Sign up for a professional conference or a networking event

25. Find a Groupon to save on an upcoming special event

26. Freeze your credit

27. Adopt online security practices to help protect your identity

28. Familiarize yourself with common financial scams

29. Find help if you or a loved one are a financial abuse victim

30. Start your emergency binder

31. Sign up for the free financial tools from Empower

32. Start tracking your expenses to discover what you can cut out

33. Create a budget to manage cash flow and avoid these common mistakes

34. Negotiate your pay

35. Research ways to maximize your income

36. Research fees you pay – bank accounts, credit cards, etc

37. Open a high-yield savings account (Ally, CIT Bank)

38. Shop for better rates on renters, homeowners, and car insurance

39. Purchase life insurance

40. Set up sinking funds for your short term savings goals and expected expenses, including vacations, celebrations, medical care, and holiday season spending

41. Review employee benefits – your employer may offer a lot more than health insurance and retirement plans!

42. Understand your spending triggers and institute a 24-hour spending rule

43. Try a 30-day no-spend challenge

44. Complete your living will/advance care directive

45. Review beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, and other savings and financial products

46. Get your estate planning questions answered and start your plan!

47. Cut back on social media and start a gratitude practice

48. Learn a new skill

49. Find a therapist to help overcome a spending addiction, FOMO, or other mental health care need

50. Develop a financial mission statement

51. Gamify how you manage your money by starting a 52-week savings challenge

52. Schedule “money dates” on your calendar for planning, discussing, and reviewing your finances monthly, quarterly, and annually

53. Start learning about investing in the markets

54. Plan your income tax strategy for next year

55. Research real estate investing ideas    

56. Have the financial stability talk with your parents – do they have a handle on their retirement planning, social security benefits, estate planning, etc.?

57. Schedule a consultation with a fee-based financial advisor or another financial professional if you need help with your financial planning

58. Get a grasp on other key personal finance terms

59. Explore tactics to control discretionary spending – save now, pay later

60. Schedule your health care appointments and engage in physical activity – don’t skimp on your health! 

Using any self-help acts mentioned here can help you reduce just a bit of finance-related stress, and with several, perhaps more tension will melt away.

To make more significant progress on improving your money management, wealth building, and overall financial situation, explore our start here pages on various topics.

Or you can search our site database. With over 500 articles published, we're bound to have articles on topics you'd like to dive into further.

But if we don't, we'll find the information for you. Just let us know!

Practice Financial Self-love for Greater Well-Being

Good habits – including financial ones – take time and practice to become part of a healthy lifestyle.

These examples of financial self-care can benefit your fiscal, physical, and emotional health now and start you down the path to financial independence.

You'll expand your financial literacy, improve your relationship with money, prepare financially for goals and life events, and be better equipped to extinguish financial emergencies.

Building security for tomorrow and years to come begins with focusing on your financial life today!

Next: Why Is Adopting an Abundance Mindset Important?