Yahoo Finance 3 ways to indulge in financial self-care, and save a fortune
The global wellness economy is worth a whopping $4.4 trillion which means you’re probably indulging in some form of wellness throughout your life.
Maybe it’s practising yoga or meditation, listening to mindfulness apps, using jade rollers, buying scented candles, massages, face masks or booking an annual health retreat. Or maybe it’s going to bed at the same time every night, drinking enough water and moving your body.
Whatever you do, often when it comes to self-care it’s about the physical and the emotional.
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What I am often surprised by however, is that there is one neglected area in all that wellness: our finances.
According to a recent Ellevest survey, pre-Covid nearly two thirds of women counted money as their number one source of stress. While since Covid, nearly half of women said they believed that financial stress has taken a toll on their mental and emotional health.
Given the financial stress so many of us are under, it begs the question, are you really practising self-care if you’re not including your finances?
If, like most people, you suspect you’ve been leaving your finances out in the cold when it comes to self-care, here are three easy things you can do:
1. Indulge in a financial detox
Decide on a length of time (I’m a fan of 30 days, but even seven days is better than nothing) and choose what you’re not going to spend on for that period.
It might be clothes and shoes or it might be lunches and eating out.
The idea is to stop spending on your wants during the detox period and to be mindful about when you’re tempted to spend.
This isn’t to say during life you can’t spend, instead, it’s to question the emotion behind your spending and to turn you back into a conscious consumer.
2. Swap, pause and cancel
During the detox, pull open your bank account and go through three months’ worth of expenses.
As you do, ask what expenses you could swap for a cheaper option, what expenses you’re not using currently and can pause and what expenses you should be cancelling.
These might be subscriptions to pay TV, memberships you’ve signed up to during lockdowns and they’re no longer relevant or things you’ve moved on from.
3. Unfollow, unfriend and unsubscribe
Too many people grew up in an environment they had no control over. Yet as adults, I see too many of us curating an environment which is either harmful or not beneficial to our finances.
Not only are well all carrying around a mobile shopping device (also known as a mobile phone), many of us have created online environments through our social media feeds where we’re being sold to 24 hours a day.
This might be from brands that we follow but it could also be influencers who are perpetually peddling products that they’re not paying for themselves.
My tip?
Spend a morning and unfollow, unfriend and unsubscribe from anyone causing you to spend in way that isn’t how you’d choose.
Chances are when you think of your finances you feel overwhelmed or stressed, and that means you push it to one side in hope it’ll sort itself out.
Instead, think about reframing financial self care to be like a soft, supportive calming bath for your finances. What’s not to love about that?
Melissa Browne is an ex-financial advisor & now financial educator. If you want more help, make sure to join the waitlist for her My Financial Adulting Plan at www.melissabrowne.com.au
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