“Financial Attention Deficit Disorder”…Symptoms and Treatments

Check out this new phrase that is buzzing around…and might I say, it seems to be a pretty realistic disorder.

Financial stability, or lack of, can have a tremendous effect on our daily quality of life. Some of those effects include; stress about future bills, worry over a zero balance in a saving’s account, or anxiety over losing your income to a lay-off situation. When our daily quality of life is negatively affected by our financial burdens or situations, it can lead to a snowball effect, starting with lower self-esteem and lower self-worth. Further, lower self-esteem can result in poor financial decisions or unnecessary “comfort” spending.

As I thought of this new buzzing phrase, I did a little research regarding common financial struggles (i.e. symptoms). Then I checked with some financial experts to get some effective prioritizing steps (i.e. treatments), and wanted to share the results.

Symptoms of “Financial Attention Deficit Disorder” include:

1) Living paycheck to paycheck.
2) Having a very low, or no, savings account.
3) Wondering where all your money goes (not able to account for your spending).
4) Having a credit card (or two or ten) maxed out.
5) Having no emergency fund in case of unforeseen life changes (e.g. loss of a job, illness, natural disaster).

Now, some of you may be thinking, “holy cow, one or two or more of those symptoms pertain to me”. If you can relate to any of the symptoms above, then you may very well have “Financial Attention Deficit Disorder”. Through my sleuthy research, I was able to find some handy dandy treatment steps to overcome “Financial Attention Deficit Disorder”

(Source: www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20040317a1.asp).

Treatment Steps Include:

1) Create a “starter” emergency fund – get creative and find ways to try to save up $1000. This is much more reasonable and easier to reach then the traditional amount that many financial advisor’s suggest (i.e. save up 3 to 6 months of your living expenses).
2) Pay off all your unsecured debt, one at a time – examples of secured debt include your mortgage and car loans. The most common example of unsecured debt is credit card debt.
3) Now build up your emergency fund with 3 to 6 months of basic living expenses. Basic living expenses include housing, food, water, essential utilities, medical insurance, car loan, child support (if applicable), and taxes. Some examples of expenses that are not basic or high priority include; credit card loans, high-definition service for your television, Netflix, etc. You may be able to look and identify expenses that you don’t need in order to survive.

In addition, there are two effective exercises (i.e. Prioitizing Party Exercise* & Seek and Surrender Task*) that can help you to begin to feel more secure about your financial situation. As a result, you will experience a higher quality of daily life through higher self-esteem and higher self-worth.

Best Wishes and Peace to All!
Shannon

* Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.