How to Deal With Financial Stress: 12 Tips to Take Control

Your thoughts are racing, you haven’t been able to sleep soundly for a week, and your stomach’s in knots—all because of a trip to the grocery store or a look at your checking account. If these anxious responses to situations around money seem familiar, you might be dealing with financial stress. But don’t worry—you aren’t alone.

Our research shows that Americans rank personal finances and money as their number one cause of significant stress. As it turns out, 78% of Americans would experience financial difficulty if their paycheck were delayed a week.¹ That means they’re living paycheck to paycheck. In other words, spending all the money they make the same month they make it—without putting any away into savings or investments. I’d call that stressful!

But you don’t have to live with anxiety around your money. In fact, I’ve got 12 specific ways to help you lower that financial stress and start feeling peace and empowerment with your money.

What Is Financial Stress?

Before we talk about solutions, let’s look at some definitions. Financial stress is anxiety, worry and fear that’s related specifically to situations around money. (I’ll share some examples in just a second.) Think of financial stress like a smoke alarm—it signals that something about your money needs attention.

Much like general anxiety, financial stress can cause physical symptoms like insomnia, headaches, fatigue and more. And if you’ve ever experienced any worry when it comes to your money, you probably know exactly what that feels like. If you’re suffering through financial stress, you’ll recognize it by these common symptoms:

• Anxiety around making ends meet or having enough
• Worry about hitting financial goals like buying a house, paying off student loans, or saving for retirement
• Difficulty sleeping
• Overthinking things that are out of your control, like the housing market or inflation
• Weight gain or loss due to stress
• Headaches or other physical pain
• Unhealthy coping habits like substance abuse, overspending or doom scrolling
• Tension and conflict in your relationships

. . . and that’s just to name a few.²

Financial stress also takes a toll on marriages nationwide. Ramsey Solutions did a study that found that money is the number one issue married couples argue about. And for 41% of couples with consumer debt, money is what they argue about the most.

Listen guys, financial stress doesn’t have to take over your life—or your marriage. It’s time to change your money mindset and habits so you can get to the bottom of your money worries.

What Causes Financial Stress?

Once you have an idea of how much you’re making and spending each month, you can begin to explore other reasons you might be feeling financial stress. Here are some common causes of financial stress that you may be experiencing:

• Keeping up with inflation
• Having a steady income that’s not growing
• Dealing with job instability or working inconsistent gigs
• Struggling to pay your rent or mortgage
• Covering childcare costs
• Owing back taxes
• Dealing with a gambling or shopping addiction
• Underearning or experiencing salary cuts or job loss
• Living beyond your means
• Paying for medical bills or being a caregiver for elderly or special-needs relatives
• Making unwise investments
• Experiencing failed business ventures
• Paying back debt or personal loans
• Getting divorced
• Paying back student loans

These situations are unfortunately all too common. But with an intentional plan for your money, you can start finding solutions that will help you deal with stressful money situations and find peace of mind.

How to Deal With Financial Stress

How can you ditch financial stress and start feeling peace with your money? Here are 12 ways to reduce your money stress.

1. Understand where you stand with your money right now.

I know it’s uncomfortable, but it’s time to face what you’ve been avoiding. So go ahead and open that junk drawer where you’ve been stashing all those old bills, log into your checking and savings accounts, and pull a credit report so you can get a baseline of your money situation. Understanding your net worth, what you owe on past-due bills, your debt totals and minimum monthly payments, and your current expenses is the most helpful thing you can do to start relieving money stress.

2. Make a budget (and stick to it)!

Making a budget each month will help you determine if you’re spending more than you make and, if so, where you might need to cut back. I hear all the time that people feel like they’ve gotten a raise once they do a budget—and who doesn’t love finding ways to save extra money?

It may seem weird, but a budget actually gives you peace of mind. Once you take inventory of your bills and debt and you know what you’re dealing with, you can come up with a plan—a zero-based budget. Here’s how it works:

• First, write down your income.
• Then, write down your expenses.
• Now, subtract your expenses from your income until the total equals zero!

Don’t worry, zero doesn’t mean you have nothing in the bank. It just means you’ve given every single dollar a purpose and a job to do.

Okay, but maybe the idea of budgeting causes you more stress. I get it. I didn’t like budgeting at first either! It can be a challenge at the beginning—but budgeting is how you get clarity around how much money you have and where it goes. (That way, you can start to figure out the source of your money stress.) It takes about three months to get the hang of budgeting and start feeling really comfortable with the process, so hang in there!

And here’s a pro tip—it’s way easier to budget with a really fantastic budgeting tool, like the EveryDollar app. It’s what my husband and I use every single month to budget. Bonus? It’s free! So go check it out.

Listen, when your money feels out of control, budgeting puts you in charge, which relieves stress. Big time.

3. Have budget meetings with someone you trust.

You don’t have to deal with money stress alone. That’s why it’s helpful to have regular budget meetings with someone to help keep you accountable—someone encouraging enough to cheer you on and bold enough to call you out.

Got a spouse? You’ve got instant accountability. If you’re single, find a trustworthy friend or mentor and sit down with them every month to check in and set up the next budget. Doing this together will help you both move forward.

4. Track your expenses.

If you want to stop feeling stressed about money, you’ve got to be aware of what you do with your money. Awareness starts with budgeting. And if you want to budget well, you’ve got to track your expenses. Every. Single. One.

Tracking your expenses helps you see where your money goes so you don’t wonder where it went. If you see a budget line getting low, you can move money over from another budget category or just plain stop spending money.

Want help with this? Try out the premium version of EveryDollar, which connects your bank account to your budget. Your transactions stream in automatically, and you just drag and drop them to the right budget line. It’s how you track expenses quickly and accurately.

5. Build an emergency fund.

Life is going to happen, and worrying about potential accidents or emergencies might give you more anxiety. However, being prepared with an emergency fund will give you peace of mind. Start with $1,000 for a starter emergency fund. Then, after you’ve paid off all your debt (which I’ll explain next), save for 3–6 months of expenses. Trust me: Knowing you’re prepared to handle unexpected costs—not if, but when they happen—will get you that great night of sleep quicker than the softest pillows in the world.

6. Pay off all your debt.

Research done by Ramsey Solutions shows that nearly half (49%) of Americans say their finances create stress and make them anxious. But just imagine what life would be like if you didn’t have to keep giving your paycheck to student loans, credit cards, medical debt, vacations and more because you’re debt-free.

Psst—I’ve got a plan for how to do just that. It’s called the debt snowball! Here’s how it works:

Step 1: List your debts from smallest to largest, regardless of interest rate. Pay minimum payments on everything but the little one.

Step 2: Attack the smallest debt with everything you’ve got. Once that debt is gone, take that payment (and any extra money you can squeeze out of the budget) and apply it to the second-smallest debt while continuing to make minimum payments on the rest.

Step 3: Once that debt is gone, take its payment and apply it to the next-smallest debt. The more you pay off, the more your freed-up money grows and gets thrown onto the next debt—like a snowball rolling downhill. It’s worth mentioning: If you’re in the middle of any kind of emergency (like a job loss, major home repair or medical crisis), things may need to look a little different.

The best thing to do in that case is only pay minimum payments on your debt and focus on taking care of your Four Walls instead: food, utilities, shelter and transportation. This will help you stay afloat until things get back to normal. And if you’ve got debt collectors calling, your priority should still be taking care of yourself and your family. The credit card company can wait! Once you get rid of your debt, you’ll never look back.

7. Talk to a financial coach.

If you want to get some money guidance from a professional, talk to one of our financial coaches—not an opinionated neighbor or family member but an actual, highly trained coach. They’ll help you create a personalized plan based on your life and your goals so you can move from being stressed and overwhelmed by your money to having direction and a clear path forward.

8. Get a side hustle.

First of all, make sure you know that upping your income in and of itself won’t solve any problems. You have to be serious about making wise money decisions, no matter your income.

But if you’re taking all the steps I mentioned above and still feeling stressed about your finances, getting a side hustle could give you the boost you need to pay off your debt faster, cover big expenses, or sock away investments for your future. Just make sure that your side hustle earnings get a job in your budget so you don’t end up back where you started.

Here’s a tip: Check out our free Side Hustle Quiz to learn the best ways to make some extra money based on your talents and how much time you have!

9. Cut out emotional spending.

When you’re stressed, you might try to find some quick relief in emotional spending. Impulse buys, however fun in the moment, are really just a quick jolt of excitement, followed by guilt, a tightened budget, debt or even a serious shopping addiction.

The thing is, retail therapy may seem like a good idea in the moment. And it can help you forget your stress—for a little while. But it’s not going to fix the problem. It’s only going to make your money worries worse. So instead of running to the store or online shopping apps to try and feel better, work through this list or connect with a mental health professional to actually deal with your financial stress and anxiety.

10. Start giving.

I believe in giving. Always. Tithing to your church, donating to charities, supporting worthy causes—even if you’re in debt. It may sound crazy, but it’s actually super valuable.

Generosity shifts our focus off our problems and our financial shortcomings. And when you share your income, you appreciate it more. You stress less. Contentment doesn’t come when we have enough—it comes when we see that what we have is enough. When you give, everyone wins.

11. Practice gratitude.

Speaking of gratitude . . . if you want to know how to deal with financial stress, work on your contentment. If you’re constantly comparing yourself to others, you’re going to be stressed over what they have and you don’t have. And if you’re stuck with a serious case of want-itis (the urge to buy things just because you want them), you won’t find peace in what you have now.

Learn what triggers your comparisons and want-itis, then start limiting your exposure to that thing. (I’m looking at you, social media.) Get yourself out of the habit of scrolling and into the habit of gratitude.

12. Set goals.

When you’re stressed to the max, it might be hard to set money goals. But goals are exactly what can help keep you on track. So work on setting some right away.

Don’t worry if your goals seem kind of small right now. Make them what you need them to be. One of your money goals might be saving up the $1,000 starter emergency fund. You might be ready to destroy your debt. Or you could be thinking about buying a house or saving for retirement. It’s important to remember that every monthly budget plays a part in making those future dreams come true!

If you don’t know where to start, follow the 7 Baby Steps. This is the best way to get you from being broke and broken to building wealth and giving. The Baby Steps cover everything from saving for emergencies, paying off debt, and investing to saving for your kids’ college fund, paying off your home, and building wealth so you can give generously.

You Can Beat Financial Stress

Hey, you’re going to be okay. In fact—you’ll be better than okay. I know it might feel like you’re really in the trenches right now. But no matter what kind of stress you’re going through, there’s always hope! If you want even more practical advice and you’re ready to dig deeper into how to deal with financial stress (and finances in general!), get a copy of The Total Money Makeover. It’s a New York Times bestseller that’s helped millions of people learn how to develop everyday money-saving habits and totally transform their relationship with money. I hope you’ll check it out. You can beat financial stress. I know it. And I’m rooting for you along the way!