The definition of financial wellness has to do with your association with money. It indicates to how secure your money is, given all the variables involving an unknown future. Are you money-wise prepared for emergencies?

Do you have active plans in place to reach your long-term and short-term financial goals throughout life? It also incorporates your present situation with money. Do you have a budget? Do you stick to it? What about your approach toward money? Does the thought of it make you sick to your stomach or does it make you come alive? All of these thoughts and more must be a part of a thorough financial wellness definition.

If you’re not used to taking control of your finances in this way, it might sound intimidating. But it’s never too late to learn positive habits that will enhance your relationship with money—and you don’t need a degree or financial advisor, either. The main habits of financial wellness are fairly straightforward.

Half of the UK population are financially vulnerable with one in six individuals unable to cope with a £50 increase in monthly bills, according to a survey of Britain’s personal finances by the City regulator.

How do you achieve financial wellness?

1. Spend less than you earn. Bolster your savings and reduce your expenses. 
2. Save for future spending. Get yourself into a habit of saving. 
3. Only borrow what you can afford. Don’t deny yourself, but avoid spending for an outward show or status symbol. 
4. Grow your money. 
5. Boost your earning capacity.
6. Protect what you have.

The link between financial health and personal health are more related than we may think. We’ve all probably experienced some sort of stress in our lives at one point or another. Numerus studies have suggested money worries are the number one stressor across all age groups. High levels of financial stress manifest through physical symptoms like sleep loss, anxiety, headaches/migraines, compromised immune systems, digestive issues, high blood pressure, muscle tension, heart arrhythmia, depression and a feeling of being overwhelmed. 

If you’re not used to taking control of your finances in this way, it might sound intimidating. But it’s never too late to learn positive habits that will enhance your relationship with money—and you don’t need a degree or financial advisor, either. The main habits of financial wellness are fairly straightforward, and include:

Financial stress and unhealthy coping behaviours:

Financial stress can and does lead to people adopting unhealthy coping mechanisms; examples would be overeating, smoking and using alcohol/ recreational drugs. As you can envision, those behaviours later lead to even more money-related stress and damaging results on the body and mind. Since mental and physical health can directly benefit from healthy finances, why not try to include some steps to help improve our financial well-being? 

Financial wellness isn’t always directly related to earnings in fact, a recent report establishes that individuals who earn over £100,000 had the matching money worries as those earning below £10,000! This shows it’s our relationship with money, not the income itself, that makes all the difference.

What is money mindfulness?

Money mindfulness aids in becoming more conscious of how you spend, save, and invest. With boosted awareness, you have more freedom to manage money masterfully, without acting through impulses or avoidance.

Emotions influence money management in a numeral of ways. For example, spending can provide a short-term “high”, which explains why several of us indulge in a retail shopping when we need cheering up. We can make spontaneous purchases of things we want, but don’t really need. On the other hand, an unforeseen bill or unpaid taxes can cause immediate anxiety or stress.

Mindfulness is paying complete attention to the present, without judgement. Meditation is a way to practice mindfulness, before applying those skills to your day-to-day life. When it comes to money, it can be difficult to stay present when feeling stressed or wanting to avoid checking your bank balance. Mindfulness teaches us to tackle problematic feelings, breathe, and enter the right frame of mind to face challenges head-on.

When it comes to money, meditation won’t make money mysteriously emerge in your bank account or wipe out your student loan. But it can teach you to decrease stress, increase self-awareness, and improve focus and decision-making. Money mindfulness has far-reaching benefits. 

Mindfulness creates us to be conscious of our beliefs and emotions related to money. That leaves no place to hide for things we’ve been avoiding or ignoring. By challenging these beliefs and managing our feelings, we are free to make healthier choices and generally decrease levels of anxiety around dealing with money.

Help for money problems:

Citizens Advice is a good place to start if you have any money problems. They can give advice, help with benefits, and debt, support you through redundancy and can put you on to the right people if you’re about to lose your home.