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UCL researchers recently published a study in the Brain, Behavior, and Immunity journal about how stressful experiences and financial strain were detrimental to the healthy interaction between people’s immune, nervous, and endocrine systems.
When the communication between these systems is disrupted, our health suffers. For example, we become more prone to various illnesses like cardiovascular diseases, depression, and schizophrenia.
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“We found that financial stress was most detrimental to biological health, although more research is needed to establish this for certain. This may be because this form of stress can invade many aspects of our lives, leading to family conflict, social exclusion, and even hunger or homelessness,” Hamilton said.
The people who reported dealing with financial strain, the perception that they might not have enough money for future needs, were 59% more likely to, 4 years later, belong to the high-risk group of people who develop illnesses.
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“On the mindset side, aim to put your focus and attention on gratitude for what you have rather than fixating on what you don’t have but want. That’s easier said than done—as soon as we get one thing we want, we start thinking about the next thing. Remind yourself that you have everything that you need, and then go through subtraction exercises, imagining your life without some of the things you take for granted. You’ll value them more and boost your gratitude for what you have,” Davis explained.
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Lowering your living expenses means that you increase the number of months that your savings could potentially sustain you if you were in an emergency. That, in turn, leads to less overall stress about money.
Furthermore, you have far more flexibility in your career if your expenses are lower. “You can go pursue your dream work, even if it doesn’t pay well, as you live happily on a lower budget.”
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We were also curious to get Davis’ perspective on emotional spending. Specifically, when it starts becoming a real problem. He pointed out that it’s an issue when someone starts exceeding their budget for discretionary spending.
“If you budget $300 per month for discretionary spending like lattes and restaurant meals and shoes and clothes, there’s nothing wrong with you spending that money in whatever way brings you the most happiness. That includes emotional spending, such as indulging yourself at the spa or whatever floats your proverbial boat. But when you blow past that $300 because you splurged on emotional spending, you’ve blown your budget. Now you have less to spend on more essential expenses like groceries,” the co-founder of SparkRental.com told us.
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The latter is fairly straightforward (if not so simple to do in practice): you can look for a higher-paying job, work more hours, pick up a part-time gig, monetize your hobbies, invest, etc.
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You can start by eliminating all of the things you spend money on that have literally no benefit. For instance, you might have signed up for some digital subscriptions that you don’t have the time (or desire) to use. You might have a gym subscription, but it’s been months since you went.
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Whatever your weakness might be, it’s important to identify it and be honest about what this is: emotional spending. It makes you feel good for a moment, but it leaves you feeling hollow later on. This does not mean that you shouldn’t enjoy the finer things in life. However, you should be realistic about how much of that enjoyment your budget allows for. Treat yourself… once in a while, not every day, unless you’ve budgeted for it.
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