Managing our financial fears and debt related stress has become a way of life now for millions of Americans. It’s important to learn healthy ways of coping with your money issues so as not to affect your health and well-being, or that of your children and family.

One of the things I encourage my clients to do, is to simply manage one financial issue at a time. Otherwise, it’s easy to get triggered emotionally and become overwhelmed. Spend 15 to 30 minutes a day managing your finances and debts to the best of your ability and then put it away. Let it go. Managing your debt one day at a time will help you to make consistent progress. Make a plan…do the best you can.

Here are some other tips to help you cope with debt: 

1. Understand that you are not your debt. You debt represents where you are financially, not who you are.

2.
Make a commitment to understanding your spending patterns so that you
can form a new awareness around your shopping habits and impulses. Keep
a small notebook to record both your daily purchases and your mood or
emotions at the time of purchase. Notice if you tend to shop or buy
impulsively for emotional reasons.   

3. If you have any
feelings of guilt or shame associated with being in debt, work on
forgiving yourself and releasing the past. The past is history and you
can choose to do it differently.

4. Find ways to cut back and simplify your life personally and financially.
What is is that you truly need to be happy and feel secure? This is a great time to have a potluck with your closest friends or family and watch Wayne Dyer’s new film, “The Shift”. 

5. Make a Spending Plan that
includes both saving and debt repayment to the best of your financial
ability. Even little efforts will make a difference and will increase
your self-esteem.

6. If your debt load is overwhelming and preventing you from sleeping or
living a normal life, it is important to seek the help of a certified
debt or credit counselor. Remember, you deserve help and support, so reach out for
assistance.

7.
Debt can create stress in your life, so integrate stress management
techniques into your daily life and nurture yourself by exercising and
eating well.

8. If you are feeling deeply depressed, paralyzed
or unable to cope with your financial circumstances, seek the help of a
therapist or social worker. 

9. If you know deep down that you
cannot afford to pay your debts and it’s hurting your health, family or
life, seek the advice of an attorney and consider bankruptcy as an
option.
Ultimately, bankruptcy is about financial forgiveness and
giving people a second chance, which everyone deserves. Know that your
life, health and family are far more important than any debts you may
owe.

10. Practice gratitude everyday for this one beautiful
life you have been given. If you just do the best you can each day to
make the most of what you’ve been given, things will work out.

11. Pray and/or meditate daily to maintain your spiritual and financial well-being.

Here’s a prayer for making peace with debt:

Dear God,
Please help me to heal my relationship with money
and to be released from the bondage of debt. Help me
to know that I am not my debt or my financial circumstances.
Help me to know that regardless of my circumstances that my
life has meaning and value. Help me to be kind to myself and to
use my indebtedness as an opportunity to heal and to be closer
to your infinite wisdom.

Give me strength, courage and wisdom and guide me to right action.
Please surround my life with your constant love, light and protection
so that I may know that I am never alone. Thank you for all you have
given me and continue to give me. For this and so much more, my
life is blessed and I am eternally grateful. I surrender all to you with faith
and trust that all will be resolved in time. And so it is.
Amen.