I can’t remember a time when I was not worried about money.
Whether I have enough of it to spend or save, money is constantly on my mind. Though it’s great to be financially aware, it also can lead us to obsess over what we can or can’t spend. Before we know it, we’re faced with the phenomenon known as “money anxiety.”
What is money anxiety?
In simple terms, money anxiety—also called financial anxiety—is when an individual is constantly worried about money.
But dealing with money anxiety isn’t so straightforward.
It’s expected that money anxiety would result in someone being more responsible with their spending, and though this is the case most of the time, it’s not the case all the time. In fact, it can have the opposite effect.
It can be easy to fall into poor financial coping mechanisms when dealing with negative emotions like anxiety. For example, retail therapy is one that I fall into a lot when I’m overwhelmed about money. Though I know it’s irresponsible and I should avoid unnecessary spending, buying the trendiest things brings me joy.
But at the end of my “therapy,” I can’t bring myself to look at the dent in my account.
As college students who want to travel and go out with friends, not being able to afford things can hit us emotionally and mentally. We can get the worst case of FOMO when we see everyone on our social media feeds traveling or going to overpriced restaurants. As a result, we frantically search for jobs that will pay us anything in the hopes that we can balance it all, but finding any job now is harder than ever.
Money anxiety doesn’t look the same for everyone and dealing with it can be harder than expected.
How do I get rid of money anxiety?
Being financially responsible is easier said than done.
Everywhere I look, I see the same tips about dealing with financial uncertainties. Advice like ‘create a budget,’ ‘set achievable goals,’ ‘limit yourself to necessities,’ and ‘regularly check your finances’ are the most common.
Though this can be helpful, the anxiety is still there. What if I get an unexpected bill? What if I want to travel or go out in a way that will make a dent in my finances? What if I lose my job? What happens after my internship ends?
Something that has helped me is reminding myself that money is not everything. Yes, having money and financial responsibility are important, but the experiences that are available to me in my 20s won’t always be there.
Living our lives should be more important than money.
The constant worry around money can be consuming, and dealing with it can feel impossible sometimes, but reminding ourselves that we don’t need to compare ourselves to others’ financial situations or that we should spend money to have experiences that we won’t forget about can ease the anxiety we feel.