What to do when it feels like you're drowning
Water leak the month of our wedding?
Yep. Here’s what we learned from that experience.
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Photo credit: Daan Mooji on Unsplash
A few years ago my husband and I had a water leak from our upstairs bathroom that came down into our kitchen and went all the way to the basement.
Fun times! Especially because it was the month of our wedding and our finances were pretty tight!
We could have easily freaked out and crawled under a rock to try and ignore the problem.
But we didn’t. Here’s what we did instead.
Assessed the immediate damage. Water is obviously no joke so the first priority was to get things dry! Mold is never good, unless maybe it’s part of some blue cheese.
Figured out if anything was damaged enough to be replaced. We got pretty lucky and no real material items were ruined.
Took a moment to be grateful that it wasn’t worse! Even in the midst of something awful, there are always things to be grateful for. We still had a roof over our heads, we had some money set aside for emergencies (like a couple hundred but hey, it counts!), we were still able to work and had each other.
Used this experience to motivate us to be better prepared in the future!
So, what should you do if you are finding yourself with some unexpected expenses?
First just know that anyone in this type of situation would be feeling a lot of stress. Don't beat yourself up for whatever feelings you experience. But DO remember that you can choose how you react to these feelings and emotions. And don't let this derail the progress you've made and the goals you are working towards. Look back to your financial why as a reminder of why you are on this journey and let that keep you motivated to keep your head up.
Unfortunately, there are always going to be things in life beyond our control. What you CAN control is how prepared you are and how you react. When you are just getting started with budgeting and there's not really much left over, you have the power to change that for whatever event life throws at you next. So even if you start setting aside $5 a week, that will start adding up for the future.
You could also take this as an opportunity to reevaluate your expenses. Go through your list of fixed expenses and really evaluate if it's important enough to stay in your budget right now or if the money would be better spent going towards one of your top priorities (paying off debt, starting an emergency fund, etc).
Also make sure to pay close attention to your variable expenses! I find that more often than not, those are the ones that creep along and all of a sudden you’ve spent $500 at Amazon and you aren’t even sure on what! Every $10 or $20 purchase adds up, so if you are trying to save money, make sure each expense is a need, rather than an impulse purchase in the moment. (PS - I’m not saying you can’t spend money on anything fun! Budgeting does not have to be restrictive, you just have to make sure your spending aligns with what’s most important to you right now.)
And finally, try not to get bogged down with everything that needs done. Just focus on one thing at a time and figure out what the next right step is. One step at a time, one item on the list at a time.
Just like my husband and I got through our water disaster, you WILL get through this too!!
PS - It’s ok to ask for help in times like these!
If you need some guidance, let’s chat.
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