Have you experienced tough times lately with your finances? Do you feel like no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to win? Maybe it’s one thing after the next, breaking in your house, your car needs repairs and you are never able to reach your goals.
I want you to know you are not alone and give you some ideas to help encourage you in the hard times.
The past few months, we personally have had many things go wrong in our house. We’ve had multiple appliances break in our home, my husband’s truck broke, we repaired it and it broke again. Then, the kicker, we found out our beloved dog had cancer and we had to put him down. $450 for putting our dog down on top of the multiple thousands we had spent on all the other repairs and such.Oh, and we had a pipe break in our home causing water damage and had to pay a deductible for our insurance. We had an emergency fund to use for all the unexpected things that came up, but that doesn’t mean those situations weren’t still discouraging and set us back from our financial goals. It’s easy for me to look at these situations and get down, but here’s a few tips that have helped me keep my head up when things are tough with our finances.
First, I remind myself that these difficult times won’t last forever. Yes, things can be tough sometimes. Inflation has hit many families very hard. Everything costs more and for many of us, our income has not gone up accordingly. But, this will not last forever. Prices will someday go down, income will go up at some point, things will get better. Things will not always break. It will get better.
The second thing I remind myself of, is that money is not everything. Yes, I would love to have my emergency fully funded and feeling like I have plenty of extra cash but that is not always how life works out. I remind myself that my security is not found in how much money I have saved. I go back to where I find my security. For me, that is my hope in God. I believe that He will take care of me and meet my needs even when my finances aren’t where I want them. He takes care of the birds, I know He will take care of me. I remind myself of all the good things in my life. I still have my family, my home and can pay my bills and have so much to be thankful. Having this mindset gets me out of feeling discouraged and turn my focus on what to do next.
The final reminder is to continue doing what works. Still use a budget that is accurate. Keep doing your best to spend less than you make. To save the extra, to pay off consumer debt and to plan for the future. While things might be tight for a while, things will change. One day you will get a raise, your appliances won’t break every month and you will get closer to your goals.
It’s okay to be discouraged when things don’t go as you hoped. Just don’t stay in that place too long. Remember, things will get better, focus on all the blessings you have and keep practicing what you know works in personal finance.
Sincerely,
Financial Coach Courtney