How money can affect our mental health
Worrying about money can have a negative affect on your mental health and your mental health can affect how you manage your money. Stressing about money can make us feel low or depressed, which can make money management feel too difficult to do.
Overspending is something that will likely affect us all at some point in life. We can often spend more money when we feel sad or depressed, sometimes buying ourselves nice things gives us a way to make us feel better. Although it can be a temporary happiness, it can lead to us feeling guilt or shame after spending too much money. So how can we control our spending and stop overspending?
You can tell someone you trust, they can look for the warning signs that you may be overspending, or signs that you're struggling with your mental health.
Remove your cards from your devices. Apple Pay/Google wallet and lots of websites that save your card information make it easy to go and spend again without taking time to consider the impact.
Limit your time on social media if you find yourself being tempted by social media adverts.
Find ways to delay your spending like "If I still want this tomorrow then I'll buy it". It forces us to think about our spending and about the impacts it may have on us.
Maybe avoid credit cards. Credit cards can make us feel like we have a lot more money than we do and lure us into spending more than we can afford. Remember that credit cards are just like loans, they need paying back and in most cases they come with an interest rate (extra money to pay for using the credit card). if you can, maybe try avoiding these completely and focusing on budgeting the money we have in our accounts.
Like lots of things, money can lead to addiction through gambling. Gambling, whether online or in-person, can lead to spending lots more money than we would like to. If you are worried about gambling or are facing a gambling addiction, there's plenty of support out there for you. The National Problem Gambling Clinic has lots of support and advice for those facing gambling addiction. There's also a free gambling restriction service from GAMSTOP and a 24-hour helpline by GamCare.