We all have some anxiety around money and finances. It can be hard not to! The stakes are high after all. Below are points of practical advice to help get rid of those bad feelings by getting ahead of them.

You do not have worry as much when you are already prepared, doing your best, and have taken care of yourself.

For female entrepreneurs this is even more important. You’re a leader and take investing in yourself seriously. You prioritize and know the value of your time. You are open to advice and always ready to do better! 

If money is getting you down try to make the follow changes and see how you can make your financial stress disappear!

Set a date with yourself once a week to go over your finances.

This will help you to stay aware of your finances. Many people do not want to even look at their account balances because it stresses them out too much. With regular checking in it will become less scary to see what you have in your account. This will also help if you forget about a bill or something goes wrong you will know about it sooner and be able to correct it. It is important to know where your money is where it is going. Knowledge is power. Uncertainty is sure to make you uneasy. 

Have a Go to Hell Fund, otherwise known as an Emergency Fund.

This means that you have six months of expenses saved in a liquid fund ready to go for the worst-case scenarios. This would include losing your job, having a serious accident or medical emergency, natural disaster...you get the picture. The things that no one wants to even think about, let alone prepare for. The emergency fund would help you in these circumstances and give you the flexibility to be out of work without going into debt, making payments late, or you and your family suffering. This would take the place of your emergency credit card. You could also use this for less dire but still those annoying and unpredictable expenses. For example: needing a new car battery, requiring some dental work, or house maintenance. Here let’s make a distinction between what is an emergency and a non-emergency. Your friend inviting you on a skiing trip, upgrading your phone, or a last-minute sale on designer handbags does not qualify as an emergency. A good way to tell is if the outcome or experience is fun, it is not an emergency. Emergencies are not fun. This fund is to protect you from that non-fun part of life, so you can keep on living.  

Pay yourself before anyone else.

Who is the most important person in your life? It should be you. So, take care of you first. Before you pay other people anything out of your paycheck, pay yourself. Save for your future and retirement. You cannot depend on social security, any government or company program to take care of you. I believe that this is part of self-love, which is typically overlooked. You should love yourself by making sure your money is serving you. Not only by having a good income but especially by what you are doing with the income. Using it first to take care of your long-term needs and dreams, this could be towards your really important goals starting your own business, getting out of debt, or your retirement. Put yourself first and pay yourself first.

Make everything automatic!

This is a great one. It makes your life easier. Once this is set up, you get to think less. What a relief! When your bills are all automatic it becomes impossible to be late with them. No more late fees, saving you money. It is also easy to set up automatic transfers to your retirement and savings. Now you can relax knowing that your bills are being paid and your savings are adding up without you lifting another finger. 

Debt really stresses people out.

There is so much stress attached to this topic it is hard to even know where to begin. If you have debt like all of us mainly do. I highly recommend that you do not increase it. Avoid taking on new debt. Especially when you come into more money, receive a raise, or promotion. If you do not allow your life to inflate with your income you will be able to make an increasing bigger impact on your debt. This is one of the best investments I believe you can make for yourself, moving yourself towards a debt free life. With interest rates, credit cards, mortgages, and car loans there are a lot of people making money off your stress and anxiety. Even if it takes a while if you do not increase your expenses and put some extra money towards debt eventually you will be debt free. Instead of stressing about your debt you can start saving towards those big purchases in life like a house, going back to school, and taking an incredible vacation!

About the Author — Helen Furton

I am Helen Furton and I've recently created The Practical Boss Babe, a source for practical advice for entrepreneurs, brass tacks, bottom-line kind of advice. I want to help entrepreneurs with their personal finances, productivity, and anything that can make a practical improvement in your life and get you to that higher level. I have lived all across America and currently I'm living in Austin, Texas. I have professional experience with finance and technology. I have always loved reading books especially about finance, productivity, and self-improvement. Basically, a big self-help junkie here! Now, I want to take all my talents and knowledge and use them to help entrepreneurs globally on their journeys. Instagram @hfurton.