It’s human nature to worry about the financial well being of you family, however, it isn’t necessary and worrying won’t prevent the problems to come. This is the day to stop worrying about money and start planning for the emergencies you fear will come.
* Create a budget and stick to it.
Budgeting is easy, sticking to it once it’s created is hard. Start by paying close attention to your spending habits. Figure out where you are spending too much and do whatever you can curb that spending. Your budget needs to be reasonable.
* Savings Accounts are for saving money.
Many people treat a savings account like part of their checking account using it whenever they feel the need to buy something they don’t actually have the money for. If you are one of those that view the money in the savings as just more to spend on whims, stop. Ignore this money, treat this money like it doesn’t exist. Continually put back a small percentage of your income. The security of knowing you will have somewhere to turn if an unexpected bill crops up is well worth skipping on a few whims.
* Plan for job loss
Have a plan for when things go wrong, If you lost your job tonight what would you do tomorrow? Where would you turn? Where would you look for another job? Is your resume up to date? Take some time to sit down with your loved ones and discuss what you would do if you were to lose your job. The better prepared you are for the event of a job loss the less it will feel like the end of the world if it does happen. Make sure all of your references contact information is up to date and your latest job is listed along
* Know your finances
In families where one spouse handles the finances the other will often have unfounded financial worries. Know when the bills are due, how much they are, and how much is in the bank accounts. This will prevent spending more than you should and causing undo stress and worries for both spouses.
* Take a breath.
When you start feeling like panicking over your finances step back and take a break. Go for a walk, have a cup of coffee, read a magazine, do something to take your mind off of it for a few minutes then come back to it when you’ve calmed down.
Worrying about finances is natural but planning for financial hardships will help elevate some of those worries.