November is celebrated as the Month of Gratitude and it is a time when many of us reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. An “attitude of gratitude” can help reduce stress and allow you to feel better about life in general — from improving your physical and mental well-being to boosting your overall financial wellness and approach to money management.
What is financial wellness?
Financial wellness is a state of financial well-being where you can successfully manage your debts, expenses, and emergencies, while also working toward your longer-term financial goals, like saving for retirement or college education. Financial wellness comes with a feeling of financial freedom and the ability to make choices in your life, while also being prepared for unexpected expenses down the road.
How does being thankful affect your financial well-being?
The key is to be grateful for what we do have, and to understand that money is just one small part of our lives. If you think about it, gratitude can help you avoid lifestyle inflation, debt-fueled attempts to look rich, or the temptation to make purchases because you feel like you are “supposed” to, when other people in your circle have those things.
Practicing gratitude can help you determine a plan of action to address your financial future. Many of us feel anxious when we think about our finances, where a lack of assets, high debt, and money challenges are the main contributing factors. Increased financial stress can be detrimental to our health, especially if we remain in this heightened state for long periods.
Greater contentment = less spending
Gratitude can lead to greater contentment with what you have. When you feel good about what you already have, you’ll feel less of a need to try and keep up with the Joneses. You are therefore less likely to try and fill a hole by buying more things. General contentment with life reduces the amount of money you spend on things that don’t matter to you. This leads to fewer expenses and more money in your pocket.
Recovering from financial setbacks
Another financial benefit of gratitude is the resilience it offers. No one wants to lose a job, have a terrible accident, or deal with any number of financial catastrophes. However, if you practice gratitude, you are more likely to get through the difficulty and eventually recover.
It’s easier to keep a positive attitude when you are thankful for what you do have. Those who are grateful are more likely to see financial setbacks as temporary. A dose of gratitude can help your money mindset when things are going wrong.
Giving and more organized finances
Gratitude often goes hand-in-hand with charitable giving and if it is a priority, you have to organize other areas of your finances. When you have gratitude in your life and you want to make a difference, you have the incentive to organize your finances — and that’s a good thing.
Tips for practicing gratitude for financial wellness and mindful spending
Incorporating mindfulness into the financial side of your life can increase awareness of your spending and allow you to transition from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance. Here are some steps you can take to help weave gratitude into your life and improve your financial well-being:
Write down the positives
Whether you jot down a quick list on a pad or keep an official journal, write down what you find positive about your current financial situation. This habit helps you acknowledge all the good things that you’re doing:
- Is there a positive money habit that you’ve newly adopted?
- Did you avoid an impulse buy?
Be in the moment
If you’re currently in a financial bind, try to not get overwhelmed and fixate on unrelated issues that can distract you. It’s easy to feel overburdened by abstract problems or issues that you can’t fix. Instead, consciously focus on the here and now and be honest with what you can do.
Celebrate the wins
Did you have a big financial challenge that you worked to overcome? Did you find a way out of a difficult financial situation by moving around your budget or reprioritizing your spending? Celebrating these moments where you made choices that resulted in a positive outcome can build your confidence about making future money decisions and help you feel more empowered about managing your money.
Set practical goals
Holding yourself accountable to your goals can be an important step to improving financial wellness. What are the steps you’re going to take to achieve your goals? If you want to take a big trip, perhaps you plan to curb buying lunch or carpooling for several months, to help put more money towards this vacation.
Establishing a long-term plan to improve financial health
Achieving financial wellness is a long-term commitment and you may want to consider setting goals for the next year, three years, and over ten years. Regularly check in on these milestones and whether you need to make adjustments or update timelines. Meeting with a financial professional can also be beneficial to crafting your financial future and accessing support and guidance.
Let gratitude be your guiding force this season
When we practice gratitude, we start to see the blessings that money can bring. We can use it to help others, to support causes we believe in, and to create a better future for ourselves and our loved ones. We start to see the impact that money can have on the world when we accept that money is not just about us, but how we use it to make a difference in the lives of others. Money is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. We can use it to achieve our goals and to live a fulfilling life.
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