Dealing with money issues is not easy. Families fall out over money. Your sense of status, place in life and well-being may have come to depend upon a certain level of income and expenditure. Expectations dashed, disappointment and financial loss can make for deep-seated misery.
I am not an economist -- my sister is -- but I still have to deal with money on a daily basis. We all do, unless we have chosen to renounce cash and found other methods of survival, which some have done quite successfully.
Listening to an investment counsellor recently, I heard him say that the days of the "borrow to spend" mentality are no longer the workable option they had become. Sooner or later, the credit runs out. It is no fun when it does.
A mood of blaming and complaining is very understandable. You may feel like a helpless infant in a grown up world when it comes to the economy. However, blaming and complaining about the state of the economy, and those responsible for it, renders you more stuck and prepares you for nothing better, other than more complaining and blaming. This frame of mind does not help you to deal with your personal finances, fit and ready to meet the world as it now is.
The origin of the word "confidence" literally means "have full trust." Here are some of the dictionary definitions for confidence.
In times of economic uncertainty, I have noticed that there are always those who are managing their personal finances well. What is possible for some is possible for many more.
These Six Tips may assist you to face your finances with confidence:
1. ACCEPT your current circumstances
Know where you stand financially. It may feel uncomfortable to examine your accounts, statements, monies owed to or by you. Things hidden or not. But the ignored will silently drain your energy and sense of well-being.
Get a clear picture of where you now are with your money. This information will start to give you greater peace of mind, knowledge about where you need to make adjustments, and the foundation to build your confidence.
2. LISTEN to your fears...
... observe them, but do not let them freeze you into inaction
It is said that fear is the energy for a new situation. You are not alone in now learning how to deal with the fallout of the current downturn. If you feel fear, anxiety or dread, breathe deeply into it and use the energy to take the next action that moves you forward.
3. SEEK emotional support
There are times when reassurance and encouragement are needed to help you to address life's challenges. It might be a friend who believes in you, who has seen you through other difficulties; someone who can empathize, but not offer the kind of woe-is-you-and-me-the-world-is-awful sympathy that makes you feel hopeless and pathetic.
You have a remarkable spirit within you that is perfectly placed to assist you with what you need. You may just need to be reminded about it sometimes. Learn to love yourself, and receive love, through the issues you meet. Having a good friend as a "witness" can really help to keep you going if you start to feel stuck.
4. GET practical advice
Fortunately, there are people around for whom money is not an issue and who can assist those of us less skilled to get the help we need. Do not be shy to ask. One of the most rewarding gifts you can give to others is to ask for, and receive, the help you need. For example: to make a workable plan to get back on your financial feet.
5. BUILD new trust
Only agree to do the things you know you will finish and complete. Do not try to take on too much. Let go of, or renegotiate, the agreements you cannot fulfil. Give yourself some breathing space. Be forgiving towards yourself, if you feel you should have done things differently in the past.
Be grateful, and take pride in, all you have achieved so far in your life. Be aware of the good that you are, and that you do as a matter of course. This is not about ego. It is more of a quiet sense that in your own way, you are a blessing to those you love and care for; to those you serve at work or in your neighbourhood.
6. REWARD and encourage yourself
You may have been used to retail therapy as a reward for effort; or going out for a meal; or taking a weekend away. These days, you may need to find other ways to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts you are making. Speak kind words to yourself. Do not condemn and criticize. Take a moment at the end of each day to make a note of what you have accomplished. Find inexpensive ways to praise your efforts.
Watch how love inspires a remarkable life for Faith in the presence of what could have been insurmountable obstacles.
FAITH - The Two Legged Wonder Dog
For a feisty watch, look at Richard St John's TED talk on his Eight Secrets of Success
Have you learnt to be creative in managing your finances? Do you have any tips to share? How do you keep yourself positively focussed when you are feeling challenged?
Please feel free to leave a comment below, or contact me at anne@annenaylor.com

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Excellent points - thank you for making them once again, on behalf of his Lordship!
With love and joy,
Anne
I do have one tip to share for managing finances. Wait. Research the value before purchasing anything and wait for the bargain. Sometimes you find that it was just a whim anyhow and you save even more.
Have fun,
litle brother
Brilliant tip - thank you for sharing it here!
Joy and blessings to you,
Anne
Which is why I read your posts. They, and you, are a fresh breath.
Love,
Cara
Thank you so much! I love your "little way". Not so very little. Because I think it requires a great discipline to stay focussed in the ways you describe.
Blessing of many fresh breaths to you!
With love,
Anne
(1) about crap: So he's basically saying that we need to think of Sisyphos as a guy who just loves to put his fingers into crap - and seek all the big bang type renewal that's in there. Whopping true!
(2) about tenacity and the justice of the marketplace (for anything, including ideas): yes, absolutely. What he puts forward is how that marketplace SHOULD work so that it benefits everyone by benefiting those who have some potential buried somewhere and are willing to go through (1).
The genius is that he wasn't making any secret at all of the fact that he was speaking to perfectly well-established people.
And that's why he said precisely what needs to be said. Because it is those who have something to waste who will make a difference by putting it to its appropriate use.
For the rest of us, the choice is simple: it is between putting our money into a savings account and doing whatever helps to improve our prospects in terms of potential. Which may not lead us into the conclusion that lunches are for free. Gambling with money is for those who have more than enough of it. Gambling with our potential is what we need to learn to get somewhere. It can work only if the well-to-do find out about the fact that funding something that's fun is all they can hope for.
Great to see you here - thank you for commenting and for bringing a wry smile to my face. I love your: "Gambling with our potential is what we need to learn to get somewhere."
Part of appreciating our potential is gathering up the enthusiasm that makes us an attractive proposition for those with funds, if that is what we need. Enthusiasm is a great "attractor factor".
With joy and blessings to you,
Anne
We all have baggage around the idea money. Focusing on what you want or need first allows you to keep priorities straight rather than focusing on the amount of money needed to manifest those wants or needs.
A few years ago I decided to change careers and so I focused on which steps would facilitate that change. I trusted that the details would unfold as they needed to. Part of that involved moving back to NYC and going back to school . At the time I didn't have the money to do either and didn't quite see how this would happen. After attending a summer program at the school I was hoping to enroll in, I returned to DC kind of depressed that I couldn't enroll that Fall full time. A few months later I received notification that I had received a full scholarship but. I then had to figure out housing in NYC, no small challenge.
Reaching out to an old school friend who owned a brownstone in Bklyn she agreed to let me stay there dirt cheap until I could find something. I began school and it was heaven. Eventually I moved out, found freelance work and just loved being back in school.
Ironically letting go of making money ( I went from full time professional work to student with occassional work) was freeing and I discovered all my needs were met and the money did come in as long as that wasn't the focus.
Thank you so much for your comment - I could not have put it better myself. I love the experience you write about. It is a beautiful life story and so well illustrates some of what I was hoping to put across.
I really appreciate your taking the time to describe here what you achieved in attitude and outcome.
With love and blessings,
Anne
You ask:
How do you keep yourself positively focused when you are feeling challenged?
Meditation is my favorite
when you are present with what is you can't miss .. meditation is my best friend (next to Deb)
I also like to ski as it challenges me to be present
Buenos dias,
Ed
Que tal, hombre!! How fun to be in Mexico and in February.
Being present with what is - how true! Meditation and ski-ing sound like an excellent formula for being one with the best.
Always so good to see you here.
Muchas gracias como siempre, amigo.
Anne
I just read a wonderful book called, "The Soul of Money."
It is written by a very wise, soft and enlightened woman who spent years as a major fundraiser for many causes. She has worked with world hunger, rainforest deforestation and has seen some of the world's poorest. Except she called them "Resource Poor" as she finds them to often by so joyful and happy. She has also had to work with the world's wealthiest- whom she calls "Resource RIch" as they are not always the happiest people by a long shot.
Money can bring out the worst in people and the need to always be higher than we are is a damaging paradigm we have all come to accept. Thanks for the lovely tips!
Kari
Thank you so much for dropping by. Many years ago, I read The Soul of Money. I must read it again - thanks for the reminder about it!
Money can be really tricky/sticky stuff when we attribute more importance to it than to our own core values and sense of appreciation in life.
I really appreciate your views!
With love,
Anne
If, due to the downturn, you have lost your job and face losing your house and have to feed your children, other than "get practical advice," there was nothing practical here for millions of people -- many are simply confident that they are in dire straits with no options.
The emotional devastation that "many are simply confident that they are in dire straits with no options." speaks to the block that denies the strength of resource within, and around us. There are also those who bring themselves out of crises with sheer grit and determination.
My heart goes out to those who are suffering at this time. I appreciate your thoughts and concern.
With love,
Anne
Thank you very much for your comment.
With money issues, it seems to me that there is both the practical side to be addressed, but also the emotional which underpins it. Managing personal finances calls upon both emotional maturity, or maturing, and the willingness to take certain action when necessary. It is harder to take practical steps when feeling emotionally stuck and frozen.
I appreciate your contribution here.
With warmest good wishes,
Anne