Stress

I'm sitting here at a trail enjoying the weather. But inevitably financial issues flood my head. I'm worried about eating, rent, winter clothes, just all of it. I'm having a hard time taking care if myself.

[Hidden]

Hey there, I am so sorry that you’re down today about the daily grind of life’s struggles. I know all too well what’s that like. Be gentle with yourself today & breathe in the fresh, autumn air. Let the things you cannot change go, & change the things that you can. That’s the best thing to do. Don’t allow all of these burdens take you away from the simple act of letting this beautiful air into your lungs. Give your heart a break. Everything will be okay in the end & if it isn’t okay, then it’s not the end. We are all here for you if you need us!!! 💕💕

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I ended up buying a cheesesteak sub with fries. I figured I have to eat right? Now I'm at the dollar store. 😔

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Oooooh! I love cheesesteak & fries! Can I have a bite?!?! I'm glad you've eaten. Please enjoy your day. I know it's hard with everything life throws at us! Sometimes I wish someone throw some breaks at us! I sure could catch one! The good news is you're never alone. We are all here to support each other & I'm glad you're sharing with us about your feelings. Take care of yourself this weekend, because you deserve it!!!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for talking to me. I only have one person to talk to.

[faulhallen]

I’m sorry to hear you’re worried about money. Personally I’ve always told myself I’d never worry about it when I was younger. Now it seems like I’ve done nothing but worry about money (and other issues) for years because there was never enough.

I don’t want to pry too much into your situation publicly but if you’d like someone else to talk to you can always message me. I try to answer in a timely fashion.

Also, I know a lot of people don’t like asking for help. I don’t like doing it either because I feel like a failure, or that it’s embarrassing but sometimes in life you need to know when to ask for help. There are always places willing to help with at least some of your concerns. I hope you figure it out in the best possible way for you 🙂

[Hidden in reply to faulhallen]

Thanks, yeah I get tired of asking for help. It's like between paychecks I end up struggling. I had to get food from food pantry last time. It's just exhausting dealing with rent, gas,food,bills.

[faulhallen in reply to Hidden]

I get that. It can’t be easy. I’ll be working off a budget soon and I’m terrified I forgot to count something and won’t have enough.

Would even getting help with rent one month help you get things squared away? I don’t know a lot about them because they vary by region but there are some churches and organizations that will help with rent on very specific and I believe single time basis. They may even help with utilities I truly don’t know.

[NCAQuilter]

Living with worries like these can really mess up your day, can't they? Mermaid has a great idea. It helped me enormously recently. I was evacuated for over a month by the recent Mendocino Complex wild fires. My counselor suggested I make a list of the things that bother me. 'Financial' was too broad a 'thing'. I needed to break it down a little, like: gas costs too much; don't know where money goes; job/income isn't reliable; etc. Then, make three lists of those issues: those things you can't change; those things you can't change, but can work around; and those things you can do something about.

My three lists looked like this:

Can't change:

destruction of habitat/life for animals and humans

smoke

husband's shoulder injury

best friend's cancer diagnosis

Can work around:

fix well pump (went out during evacuation)

costs of evacuation motel & food - tighten budget

Can work on:

mess in house

not quilting or baking

Do you get a picture of what I mean about the lists?

Next for 'workarounds' and 'can change', I broke them into doable sections, then put a doable amount of one or two sections into my day's plan.

This way I was only worrying about those things I could work on. It is getting so that I can visit friends impacted by the fire and concentrate on helping them where I could, and leaving the worry of the destruction behind.

Do you think learning to budget and sticking to one could lessen your worry about finances? If you choose to look into this kind of solution, please don't consult with anyone who charges for their services. You don't need more costs at this point. But, here in California, there are several free government sponsored programs that can help. Look into your community services department for a referral. Actually, asking almost any office personnel will usually direct you where you want to be. I urge you to try this. It has helped a goodly number of my clients. All successful businesses and governments use budgets to control costs and achieve goals. Works very well for individuals, too.

After you determine what you can work on, what you need financially, you can set goals and plans to achieve them.

I wish for you the best future.