Learning how to not give up when things get too difficult or overwhelming is key to reaching your ultimate financial goals.

You know that saying, “If it were easy, everyone would do it”. Well, it’s absolutely true.

Most people will stop and give up when things get too uncomfortable, tough or overwhelming.

But you are not like most people because you are reading this and you are here with me on this journey.

Recently, I too had a moment where I felt overwhelmed and frustrated with my finances. I was trying to cut corners in my budgeting system, YNAB, and completely messed up my budget.

There was approximately $1,200 that I couldn’t account for. My YNAB account balance had one number and my actual bank account balance had another number. I didn’t know what went wrong. I spent over an hour trying to figure it out.

It didn’t help that my 2-year-old was having an epic tantrum and the baby wanted to nurse. It was just all too overwhelming. I didn’t know how to fix it without having to put all the transactions in again from the beginning of the month, which would take additional time I didn’t have.  

I was just about to nuke my entire budget because I was frustrated and couldn’t figure out my mistake. Just like that, I was about to give up. But the issue wasn’t the budget, the issue was my resistance to the budget.

When things were working well, I was all for it. The moment when things got tough, I was almost ready to jump ship.

Sound’s familiar?

It should, it’s a common internal struggle we all have with ourselves when anything starts to get hard.

So here are the 5 things I did to get myself through the overwhelming feelings and what you can do when you also start to feel overwhelmed with your finances:

1- Take A Step Back

Take a step back from whatever is making you feel frustrated or overwhelmed. I stepped back from what and took some time to collect my thoughts and calm down. Instead of trying to always figure something out the moment you are upset, give yourself space to approach the problem again with a fresh perspective and calmer temperament.

2- Don’t Make A Decision When You Are Upset

Making a decision when you are upset is the worst thing you can do. Everything in that moment is more exaggerated. Don’t make any rash decisions that could affect your long-term goals due to a short-term feeling.

3- Remember Your Goals

Remember what you are working towards. Have your goals written down and make them easily accessible. In my case, I remembered the importance of the budget and how it would help me reach financial independence.

Understanding why you are doing something is key to keeping you on track. Click here to see the four types of financial goals you should have and download my free goals worksheet. 

4- Go Back To The Basics

If I’d just continued to follow the instructions of the YNAB system, I wouldn’t have made things so complicated. Sometimes in our efforts to cut corner and skip steps, we mess up the fundamentals. Go back to learning and understanding the basics.

5- Cut Yourself Some Slack

Last but not least, it’s totally ok if you don’t always understand a concept or make a mistake on your finance journey. You won’t do everything right. You’re not meant to be perfect. Giving yourself the grace to make mistakes is key. What matters is that you make an effort to learn from your mistakes and get better.

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Overall, there is nothing wrong with re-evaluating a situation and altering something that is not working. But to run from finding a solution because the problem is too hard to think through will not save you from yourself.

The problem will just re-appear somewhere else. Shortcuts won’t work either because, at some point, it will eventually catch up to you, like what happened to me.

Getting your finances in order and staying on track isn’t easy. It’s not even easy for someone like me who actually likes talking about finances.

So if you are someone who doesn’t particularly care for and have the knack for personal finances, then it probably won’t be easy for you either.

But that’s ok.

You have to be ok with pushing yourself past your comfort zone.

Comment below on what you do when you start to feel overwhelmed with your finances or how you pushed through a difficult problem on your finance journey.