Everything about yesterday went bad from the very beginning. I overslept my alarm and was rushed to get to work on time. I ended up being about 10 minutes late, and from there the day only got worse. I had several stressful phone calls and situations to deal with for everything from my part-time job to an organization I volunteer for, and more. In fact, I ended up having to use some of my paid vacation time from my full-time job to deal with these situations. Talk about wasting my precious vacation time!

By the end of my full-time job’s workday at 5 p.m., I was ready to burst from all the emotions of the day. I was craving comfort food, and for me that means a massive chocolate and sugar-filled snack. So on the way to my evening haircut appointment, I tried two of my local bakeries, which were both closed (it should have been a sign!), before finally I gave in to my emotional temptation and splurged on a chocolate doughnut and soda at the convenience store next to the salon.

The entire time I was eating, ok I was scarfing, my snack, I knew I had made not only a financial mistake, but also a health mistake too. This deliciously unhealthy snack did make me feel better for a minute or two, but then it made me feel worse because it doesn’t correlate with my financial goals or  my health related goals.

Of course this small splurge isn’t a budget busting purchase, it was only about $2, and it probably won’t be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for my health either, but it still wasn’t a smart decision.

After some thought, I decided that I need to be more aware of how I treat emotional decisions like this in the future so I don’t nickel and dime, or soda and doughnut, my way into a financial rut or a health rut. My goals are more important to me than my $2 snack that will only satisfy my craving for a few minutes before my brain is back to thinking about the crap-shoot of a day I just had.

Crappy days happen to everyone at some point, and it’s probably okay to splurge on a temptation like this once in a while when your emotions kick in. But if this is something I turn to each time I have a rough day, then I need to find a more constructive way to work off the emotions of my crappy day.

While brainstorming, I came up with these ideas for the future:

• Go Workout! Working out releases endorphins. Endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. (Bonus points if you just got the reference!)
• Spend Time Outside. If the weather is nice, spend a little time outside enjoying it to get some fresh air and take your mind off the events of your day.
• Play With Pets. I have plenty of furry companions around me, I should use them for what they do best, comforting their owner.

How do you deal with a crappy day? Do you let your emotions get the best of you?

Photo courtesy of: Live Life Happy

My Emotions Got The Best of Me is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Money makes people crazy

Emotions have an effect on everything in our lives, and our finances are no different. It is always more difficult to make the right financial decision when your emotions are running high and you are tired, stressed out, or angry. But even positive emotions like joy can have a negative impact on your financial willpower. We tend to forget about how large an impact emotions can have on our finances, but today we’ll talk about 7 different emotions and how they might be sabotaging your finances.

Anxiety

Having anxiety when it comes to money is a huge self-sabotage. People who are anxious about money are typically worried they’ll make the wrong financial decisions, like getting back into debt or taking a huge financial risk. But in all actuality, avoiding all risk isn’t the best solution to help you build wealth. To maximize your wealth-building power you have to take some financial risks from time to time. The key is to be in control of your emotions rather than letting them control you and your decisions.

Fear

People who have been extremely broke or poor in the past often carry the fear of being in that situation again with them for their entire lives. The fear they have of being broke or not having enough (enough money, enough food, enough to pay bills, etc.) is a detriment. Most of the time these people end up wasting a lot of money on stockpiling goods they don’t even need just to help make themselves feel better. Instead of using their money to buy security, they should be putting that fear to use by making sure they have a large enough emergency fund in place to cover any situation that might leave them short on cash to pay for their needs.

Jealousy

The “big green monster” known as jealousy can have a huge impact on your finances. Feelings of jealousy and inadequacy are what lead many people to try to keep up with the Jones’ and when that happens financial ruin is usually the next step. Instead of letting your jealousy help you make bad decisions, you should try to use it for good.

When you see your peers take the next step financially, like buying a newer car or a house, you should use try to set your jealousy aside and ask yourself if you are truly envious of them and their new purchase or if you are simply feeling inadequate or behind. If you truly want what they have, set up a plan so you can truly afford it instead of setting yourself back financially to get it right away.

Embarrassment

As someone who is still fairly new to living as frugal a life as possible, I can really relate to how embarrassment affects your finances. I’ve let my embarrassment affect my finances more than I’d like to admit. There have been times where I was embarrassed to be taking my lunch to work when all of my co-workers were going out to lunch. I have been embarrassed about the huge overgrowth of my hair when the line from my last dye-job is easily noticed. But I’ve discovered that my being honest with my closest friends and family about why I haven’t gotten my hair done in a while they are supportive of my decision to save money to pay off debt instead.

Sadness

It’s easy to see how sadness can have a negative impact on your finances. For example, after my divorce I was pretty sad and lonely. Instead of trying to cheer myself up by spending time with friends and family, I spent a lot of time shopping for new clothes at the mall and racking up credit card debt. My emotions definitely got the best of me (and my finances) when I was sad. When you are sad, don’t stick your head in the sand and ignore your finances. Instead you need to face them yourself or find a trusted friend or family member to help you make decisions while you are grieving.

Joy

Generally joy is a positive emotion, but even positive emotions can have a negative effect on your budget. When you are feeling happy or joyful, it’s easy to spend too much money to celebrate whatever positive things might be going on in your life. Wanting to celebrate joyous occasions in your life is normal and you should allow yourself some room in your budget to do so reasonably.

Over-confidence

Over-confidence is also something I used to suffer from. When I signed up for my first credit card I thought I knew everything I’d ever need to know about personal finance and credit. I was confident that I was “smart enough” to not over-spend and end up paying interest on my purchases. To beat the detrimental effect that over-confidence can have on your finances, make sure you give yourself a firm dose of reality every now and then.

What other ways can you think of that emotions affect your finances?

Photo courtesy of: Maksim Jeskevic

How Emotions Affect Your Finances is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.