9 Simple Ideas For Coping with Financial Stress

Here are 9 ideas to help you cope better with your financial stress in the hopes that this recession will be a soon forgotten memory for you.

1) TURN OFF AND TUNE OUT

Author Barry Neil Kaufman says "We stare bug-eyed at the eleven o'clock news, striving to be well informed, as if knowledge of the latest disasters will enhance our sense of well-being."

Why do you need to watch or listen to the news? Very few people NEED to get their information this way. Short of a tornado headed to your house, you can live your life quite nicely without 24/7 news. Try it for a week and see what happens.

2) IT WILL NOT LAST FOREVER

Og Mandino is his book "The Greatest Salesman in the World" gave four words that "have been passed down from the ancients that will carry me through every adversity and maintain my life in balance. These four words are: This too shall pass."

He's right. It WILL pass and 5 or 10 years from today we'll be reading about this in the paper and we'll think..."oh yeah, I remember that" and it will make a great story to tell your kids or grandkids.

Who said it?..."the only difference between "tragedy" and comedy is time"

3) ZIP IT!

Quit yapping about the economy to everyone you meet. Pity parties help no one on any subject so keep the complaining to a minimum. And don't hang around people who insist on wallowing in all the negativity.

Ed Diener, author of Happiness, Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, says "It's not that you shouldn't think about (the economic crisis) but think about it to the extent that you can control it. Put your money places where you are comfortable, deal with it and move forward."

4) LAUGH!

Since 1922 Reader's Digest has been telling us that laughter is the best medicine. Take daily laugh breaks. It's so easy with the internet. Go to www.Youtube.com and search for "game show bloopers" and you'll be laughing AND feeling smarter in seconds. Family Feud and The Newlywed Game bloopers are my favorites.

You can find Saturday Night Live and Mad TV clips all over the internet. Many cartoons, full length movies and sitcoms can be viewed in their entirety at www.Hulu.com

5) FACE YOUR FINANCES

They won't get better by ignoring them. They won't go away. Your credit score might be hurt if you can't pay your bills or your get behind but you won't go to debtor's prison.

It's no fun jumping every time the phone rings for fear it's a creditor. If you need help in the U.S., visit www.NFCC.org the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Don't deal with any organization that promises to help you with your finances that doesn't get a link from this website.

The specific page on that site where you can find local help is: THIS ONE!

If you can pay all your debts on time now and you don't have a
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6) KEEP TRACK

Be ruthless in tracking your spending and income. By ruthless I mean keep track of every penny. We all have a problem with "mental accounting." We don't look at 50 cents as real money and thus would likely not even consider tracking expenses that small. Fifty cents a day over a year is $182.50. It really does add up.

Keeping track of all your spending can be an eye-opening experience. You'll often discover unnecessary waste that is easy to fix.

7) GO FOR A ONE MINUTE WALK

It's been proven that those who regularly exercise have lower stress levels than those who don't.

In his book, "One Small Step Can Change Your Life - The Kaizen Way", Robert Maurer, Ph.D. states that the part of our brain called the "amygdala"... "sets off alarm bells whenever we want to make a departure from our usual, safe routines. The brain is designed that way so that any new challenge or opportunity or desire triggers some degree of fear"

He suggests we take VERY small steps so as not to "wake up" our
amygdala.

My favorite example in the book was a client he wanted to march in place, in front of the TV for one minute a day. That would be her exercise routine. Just one minute.

Eventually she marched for 3 minute commercial breaks and then for whole shows.

"Soon her ridiculously small actions had grown into the firm habit of running one mile each day. Note that this gradual buildup to a steady program is the exact opposite of the usual pattern, in which a person starts off with a burst of activity for a few weeks, but then returns to a comfortable spot on the couch"

8) START ANOTHER INCOME STREAM

People who work 9-5 and do nothing else to earn money have always perplexed me.

They get up every day, shower, drive to work, work, drive home, do whatever they do at home, go to bed and start it over again every day for 40 years.

At home they worry about job security, promotions, raises, benefits and the like but they do little if anything to ensure their own future, content to rely on an employer who may or may not be around in 5 years.

Spend some of your worry time researching ways to make extra money. Any bookstore or library will have many books on the subject.

Get your children involved. Make it a partnership. What an incredible gift to give your children. The gift of independence.

Yes, there may be laws and rules and regulations you need to follow but don't let those stop you. They are many resources available to help.

Be sure to check out my resale rights if this interests you.

9) PLAY THE LOTTERY!

No, not the state lottery, also known as "a tax on people bad at math". I'm talking about the comptroller's office lottery. Every state has an office that handles what are known as 'Unclaimed Funds" or "Unclaimed Property". In NY it's called the Comptroller's Office. Other states give it various names. Un claimed funds are forgotten bank deposits, tax refunds, and security deposits from landlords and utility companies to name a few.

Most amounts are very small but it's still fun to search. You can search the databases online. Most won't tell you how much is owed but some will give you a range. Search for your name and the names of all your friends and relatives in whatever states they live.

When you find some money that is owed, point your friend or relative to the appropriate website and collect the gratitude (and hopefully a finder's fee!) Soon you'll feel like Santa at Christmas handing out wads of cash.

Begin your search here

So there are nine ideas for you to try. None of them are hard and most you'll find rather fun. Turn off the TV and the radio...ignore the nattering nabobs of negativity and live a less stressful and more peaceful life.
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I hope you found this article helpful. Feel free to forward it on to anyone you think might be helped by it.

Make it a great day!

Leo