Although often overlooked, the state of your finances and how you handle them is an integral part of your holistic well-being. While financial wellness looks different for everyone, it has some shared fundamental principles.
What Is Financial Wellness?
Financial wellness is the health of your finances — managing your money for today and the future. There is no magic number to attain financial wellness, and it will vary as you move through different times of your life.
Financial wellness includes being mindful about:
- The resources and funds you have available
- The bills and expenses you have
- What you choose to spend — and not spend — your money on
- Your relationship with money
- How money impacts your emotional wellness
Some important factors are societal barriers to cultivating financial wellness not dependent upon the individual, such as poverty, racism, and discrimination.
Checking in With Your Financial Wellness
Making a practice of checking in with your financial wellness can be as intimidating as it is empowering. Ways in which you can check in with your financial wellness and spending habits include:
- Having a weekly or monthly financial date with yourself where you review what you have spent, how much income you are earning, and the bills/expenses you have coming out.
- Examining your relationship with money, any privileges regarding financial literacy/security, and what you believe to be true about money.
- Brainstorming ways to create more financial security in your life in a way that makes sense to you. For example, you can strategize additional income streams to help you build financial freedom.
- Becoming intentional regarding how you spend money — spending money on what is most important to you, on what is absolutely needed, and on the things that bring you joy while minimizing unintentional purchases.
Financial wellness does not happen overnight. As with recovery from addiction and mental illnesses — and other areas of wellness — it is a piece of the overall puzzle of your holistic well-being that needs to be nurtured and cultivated.
Cultivating financial wellness can be an important aspect of recovery from substance use disorder as it is an element of holistic wellness. At Avalon Malibu, we recognize how overwhelming it can be to begin recovery and start making changes in your life without knowing how and where to start. Our treatment team is here to support you as you explore what healing and recovery can mean for you as an individual. If you are ready to begin your healing journey, call us at (844) 857-5992.
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