We know all too well what financial stress can do to people’s mental health. The latest insights reported by Stream showed that 61% of UK workers have taken four or more days off in the past year due to financial stress.
We’ve done some research as well as reflected on our team’s personal experiences and provided you with some tips and tricks on how you can alleviate your financial stress.
1. Create a Budget: Build a basic spending plan to track your income and expenses, this allows you to attribute the necessary budgets to bills, shopping and activities.
Jess – Marketing Manager “I do this every month when I get paid, putting money aside for fuel, food shopping, activities and savings etc allows me to see what I might have left over or where I need to cut back that month if we have birthdays or days out planned”.
2. Meal Plan, prep and budget: Plan your meals a week in advance, and prep those where you can. This not only removes wasted money on take-aways for those nights you don’t have time but reduces the cost of your weekly shop as you have planned out affordable tasty meals.
Gary – Pricing Operations Manager “We do this every week, it not only saves waste but makes it easier to eat as a family at the end of a full day of work, school and kids clubs”
3. Shop around: Don’t go to one place for all your shopping, look online for the best place to get something, this can be food shopping, clothes, electricals, etc.
Nick – Account Manager “We never buy in the first place we see something, if there is something we want I spend some time finding cheaper deals or some sites have 10 or 15% off for new customers which is great”
4. Seek Support: Talk to someone about your financial concerns, whether it’s a friend, family member, colleague or a financial advisor.
Toni – Business Development Manager “Talking to someone can always lighten the burden just a little, and helps you get things off your chest. You can be surprised to hear that other people are going through the same thing and makes you feel a little easier about things”
5. Use the apps: Apps like Emma, plum and snoop link to your bank accounts, show your outgoings and can set money aside.
Roger – Business Development Manager “We use these and they are great, Emma made us realise we had way too many unnecessary subscriptions on the go and Plum does round up savings that you don’t even notice coming out your bank. Cash back apps are good too, you make money when you purchase things you needed anyway”
6. Salary Sacrifice: Whether its for pensions, cycle to work or car scheme. These schemes are designed to help you save money on national insurance and tax contributions whilst providing you with more affordable options.
Matt – Commercial Director “A salary Sacrifice car scheme for example can help you with an affordable EV car, that can also reduce your fuel bills which essentially saves you more money in the long run”.
We understand that some of these tips are not effective or do-able for everyone, but by taking up 2 or 3 of them you could save yourself some money and reduce your stress.
If you or someone you know is struggling financially, there are many options out there from debt consolidation advice to all inclusive advice from businesses like turn2us.
