HOW TO BE MINDFUL WITH MONEY

Taking the time to look after our bodies and minds is something we’re all striving for, but what about looking after our financial health? Money mindfulness might well be the secret to feeling happier and calmer

You’ve been to your yoga class, downed your green juice and spent 10 minutes meditating with the Headspace app. But if you’re still feeling anxious and overwrought, perhaps you are neglecting one of the most important wellness trends of 2019: money mindfulness. The wellness industry in the UK is booming (it’s worth an estimated £24bn annually), but we’re still not tackling our relationships with money. We are prioritising exercise, eating well and meditation over budgeting and saving, yet our finances are our biggest source of stress and unhappiness. ‘Money can make us very miserable if we have a bad relationship with it,’ says Neil Bage, a specialist in money psychology and the founder of behavioural research business BE-IQ. ‘All of our interactions with money are highly emotional, and many of them stem from trauma and instability in our past.’ Bage believes that we should all be prioritising how we think about money in order to become happy and fulfilled, as well as more prosperous.

A WELLBEING CRISIS

An alarming number of recent studies show that having poor financial wellbeing affects every area of our lives. Investment company Blackrock recently asked more than 4,000 people in the UK what made them stressed. ‘We found that money is the numberone source of stress in life; higher even than physical health,’ says Blackrock’s managing director Jeremy Roberts.

‘Our survey found that it is the number-one source of stress for every age group until 65-74, when stress about health takes over.’ The company’s study also showed that financial unhappiness has little to do with how much you earn; a similar level of financial stress was reported across every income bracket. Meanwhile, a survey by comparison site Fairmoney even linked poor financial wellbeing to sleeplessness, poor mental and physical health and marital strain. ‘Money worries are what divide people and what put mental strain on us,’ says Dr Roger Gewolb, founder of Fairmoney. ‘The minute we have money worries, our common sense goes out of the window. We become desperate people who do desperate things.’

IT’S GOOD TO TALK

Experts believe that one of the reasons for Britain’s financial wellbeing crisis is our inability to talk about money. The success of weight-loss organisations suggests that thousands of us are happy to reveal our weight to strangers in a hall, but it’s difficult to imagine us doing the same with our bank balances. Most of us see money as a sign of how successful we are, so talking about it openly makes us nervous. This lack of social connection around money creates a sense of shame and isolation that, in turn, leads to financial stress. ‘People start to bury their heads in the sand and that’s the worst habit I’ve seen,’ says financial planner and former debt counsellor Heather Owen, from financial advice firm Quilter. ‘This is destructive behaviour. There’s no way of getting control if you are in that mindset.’

Being financially well isn’t the same as being rich. It’s about having enough money for life to look the way you want it to

FIND YOUR MONEY BLOCKS

To become financially well, experts say you must identify your own bad habits around money, as well as the ‘money blocks’ that are keeping you from realising your financial potential. Most of us have unhelpful and untrue beliefs about our relationships with money from our childhoods, with many of them inherited from our parents. Some common ones include ‘I’m lazy’ or ‘I’m bad with numbers’. ‘We can all carry “financial baggage” and bad perceptions about our ability to manage money,’ says Rebecca O’connor, founder of good-with-money.com and personal finance specialist at Royal London. ‘Identifying what yours are and where they come from can help you tackle them and begin better habits.’

BECOMING MONEY MINDFUL

Just thinking about your financial beliefs means you’ve already taken a great leap towards being more mindful with your money. Keeping the self-care going involves daily, weekly and monthly rituals (see Your Guide To Living Money Mindfully, below right), as well as giving some thought to planning for the future. Some people might want help from an expert, such as a financial adviser (try unbiased.co.uk or vouchedfor.com for a list of independent financial advisers in your area). This can take the emotion out of the situation, but is not always necessary. Tracking your spending, checking your bank balance regularly and committing to achievable goals, such as saving a certain amount each month, will help you be more conscious of your cash.

And, as Rebecca O’connor says, don’t give up if you slip up occasionally. ‘Be kind to yourself,’ she says. ‘No one’s finances are 100% perfect, not even the money gurus. But if you keep at it with respect, patience, positivity, determination and self-awareness – all the qualities that will help you to achieve a healthier you physically through diet and exercise – you will have healthier finances.’