More than half of South Africans are feeling stressed about finances with rising fuel and food costs, low economic growth and the holiday season fast approaching. This is according to the latest Sanlam Benchmark financial report.
Like any source of stress, anxiety over financial concerns can have a far-reaching effect on mental, physical and emotional health.
Some citizens financially stressed
October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the pain and impact on our health that stress can cause is top of mind.
READ MORE: Poor mental health due to financial worries
The good news is that there are several effective tools available to help you get a handle on your finances, learn more about healthy financial practices, and allow you to access additional cash safely and responsibly.
Focus on Mental Health Awareness Month
Like any source of stress, anxiety over financial concerns can have a far-reaching effect on mental, physical and emotional health. It can impact your sleep, your work and your relationships, and can contribute to a vicious cycle in which stress causes adverse behaviours which themselves increase stress levels.
Helpful financial tools
That’s why it’s incredibly important to act quickly and effectively to get this anxiety under control, as Denise Neethling, Marketing Manager at earned-wage access (EWA) provider Paymenow, explains.
Dealing with Anxiety
“October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the pain and impact on our health that stress can cause is top of mind,” says Neethling.
Here are some helpful financial tools that will assist you in keeping your financial and mental health in check.
Expense tracking
The most important step you can take towards gaining control over your finances is understanding your spending habits. As a first step, keep a spending diary for 30 days. There are some great apps out there, but really all you need is a pen and paper.
Budgeting
Once you have a better understanding of your spending, it’s time to set some goals in a budget. Again, there are fantastic online or mobile apps that can help you do this (there are even apps specifically aimed at teaching children to budget), but all you need is a notebook.
Financial education
The more you understand about your finances the better your planning will be, and the less stress you’ll feel. There are incredible resources available to help you learn more about financial planning – free courses, websites, and videos.
Know your credit score
To have peace of mind, it is important to understand your financial credit score – do you have a good or bad score and how will this affect your finances? You are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months so make sure that you know where you stand.
Access to earned wages
Earned wage access helps indebted and struggling workers to change their relationship with their earnings, reduce their dependence on loans, and become financially resilient.
READ MORE: 7 Ways to Manage Financial Stress
It allows workers to withdraw earned wages at any point in an earning cycle, up to a percentage agreed upon by the employer, to meet financial needs or cover emergencies without needing to resort to borrowing.
This article was compiled by earned-wage access (EWA) provider Paymenow.
