#MoneyMondays: Managing Financial Stress
With rising rates, many of us have experienced more financial stress compared to previous years. With the Bank of Canada Prime Rate continuously increasing, line of credit rates, and especially, mortgage rates are impacted, causing payments to increase exponentially for clients. This post dives into ways to manage our financial stress and how to continue being happy, productive and proactive with the other areas of our lives so that financial stress doesn't ultimately, weigh us down.
Know the details. Find out how much your rates are now and how much you're paying each month towards your credit products. This will give you line of sight into how and when these debts can be paid off and/or how much more money each moth needs to be made in order to keep up with the payments.
Practice gratitude. Practicing gratitude refocuses our brains and behaviours towards what we are currently thankful for in our lives right now. The practice of gratitude may also prime us to be more proactive problem-solvers as we focus on our strengths and opportunities rather than the negative of what brings us down.
Realign with your values. During times of hardship, I have always benefited by realigning with my own values. Values are what we care about and wish to prioritize the most in our lives such as health and wellbeing, financial independence, and healthy, happy relationships. When we focus on our values, we focus on what is important to US, drowning out the noise and stress around us to focus on what we truly want, need, and emphasize in our own life.
Be prepared to make some hard decisions. Maybe you've assessed the numbers and have decided that it is time to sell a property. Maybe you have experienced undue hardship and have decided it's time to sell your primary home. Be prepared to reach out to your finance and business professionals, such as Financial Advisor, Mortgage Advisor, or Personal Banker to support in these big decisions. Signed, Filipina Budget Girl.
