Each time we help our clients get through their financial troubles to the point where they have achieved debt freedom, each and every one of them expresses the same feelings; relief from stress… , gratitude and hope.
They express their gratitude for the weight lifted off of their shoulders, being able to breathe freely and sleep, stress-free in years.
While the road from financial distress to finding relief, from your financial burdens can seem never-ending and a long process, with help, it can happen faster than you think. Often people are feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious and many aspects of their life are being affected physically, emotionally, and mentally. All of these negative feelings and emotions and have an impact on our mental health and often lead to something often referred to as “debt fatigue.”
The solution to ending debt fatigue lies in finding a way to get rid of the debt and financial burdens hanging around in our lives.
Debt Fatigue
While many people dealing with it are not aware of it, or aware they are suffering from it debt fatigue is a real issue. “Debt fatigue” often involves a lonely and dark, feeling of hopelessness that your financial troubles and obligations will never end and your debt will never be fully paid off or resolved. For many, this feeling doesn’t come right away after a few small bad financial decisions, it ; usually takes a few years of financial stressors lingering and their compounding effect become overwhelming. Usually you will see this when people have a feeling of despair as their — debts don’t appear to be decreasing, and many are increasing over time.
Interestingly, we’ve noticed that if the debt repayment strategy people have chosen and tried to implement is tooan aggressive, unrealistic and unsustainable, the more likely they are to to experience debt fatigue sooner. When people embark on an unsustainable aggressive repayment plan, it means that they are restricting their spending and are often restricting the things that would give them pleasure or happiness. The thought is to be as restrictive as possible and try to eliminate all of the debt as quickly as possible. get your debts paid off.Although great in theory, when on this path, debt fatigue can sink in and essentially invalidate everything you’ve been doing on an emotional level, leaving feelings of being fully worn out, burnt out and overwhelmed.
The danger of debt fatigue is that it can lead to destructive behaviour. It feels a lot like hitting a wall, and when that happens, the momentum you had can start to evaporate and eventually disappear. diminish. It can also lead to your debt repayment journey hitting roadblocks as you end up failing or defaulting on your plan under the pressure. backtracking considerably. You could revert to making the minimum payments, splurging on impulse purchases or binging on multiple purchases in order to try to eliminate debt fatigue. only instead of putting extra towards the debt. You might also start to spend money on things that were not part of your budget before.
There is a real possibility that you will end up losing control, spending hundreds of dollars you can’t actually afford. Not only will such behaviour severely affect your budget and debt repayment schedule, but you’ll end up with feelings like buyer’s remorse and flat-out guilt.
Put simply, debt fatigue is a direct result of living under a budget that is far too strict and is not sustainable long term. Living on next to nothing in order for debt repayment goals to be met will only work for so long without collapsing. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Debt Management
Certain steps can be taken to avoid debt fatigue;. Primarily it involves being realistic, organizing your debt repayment strategy well, and making room for occasional instances of healthy spending. Other steps include, but are not limited to:
- Activelyincludinge leisure money in the budget;
- Reduce the number of bills you need to track;
- Extend your debt repayment timeline;
- Speak to a licensed Insolvency Trustee for options and solutions;
- Consider a Consumer Proposal to solve your financial troubles;
- Consider bankruptcy to get your fresh start.
Conclusion
Debt fatigue is essentially a feeling of hopelessness that can creep into your life of paying off debt. Having said that, the more aggressive your repayment plan, the more likely you will be to experience “debt fatigue” sooner. In order to avoid it, debt management steps can be taken.
Are you suffering from debt fatigue or do you want help to regain control of your finances? Paul J. Pickering and Associates Limited! We can provide you with a free n assessment of your financial situation and provide you with solutions that include debt counselling, consumer proposals, bankruptcies and more.