Let’s face it: every day we’re looking for ways to save money because no matter what we do it never seems like we have enough. Money can be a huge stress factor for a lot of people – worrying about how you’re going to pay the bills, feeling bummed out you can’t buy the things you want to buy. All the stress of money can cause even more problems, such as problems in your relationships with others, feeling resentful and more stressed out while you work, and even cause health problems.

While it might seem unusual to say that stress is holding you back from saving money, you need to think about how stress affects your life in so many different ways.

Here are some examples:

You’re stressed out while you’re grocery shopping. Maybe you just want to get in and out, so you don’t take the time to really compare prices or look for the best deal. You’re also more likely to overeat if you’re stressed out, which can make groceries even more expensive.

You feel stressed out and so to compensate and to make yourself feel better you buy stuff you don’t really need, such as a triple chocolate cheesecake and maybe some new clothes.

When you’re stressed out you become forgetful, completely losing track of time and missing your bill payments – and now you have late charges.

Many couples fight over money and finances, which can lead to expensive marriage counseling sessions and possibly even divorce.

You might start experiencing stress related health problems, like not being able to sleep and getting sick. Now you’re spending money on sleeping pills or visiting the doctors.

You need more money so decide to work a second job that you hate which leaves you tired and irritable – and performance at your first job is starting to suffer.

Stress effects everything – and it can easily cause people to spend money each month that they didn’t really have to or want to spend – which for some may even result in more stress!

There’s no denying it: money causes stress – and stress costs money.

So what can you do? How can you reduce stress? Here’s some ideas:

1. Stick to a Routine: Routines might be boring and predictable, but they’re also a great way to alleviate a lot of unneccessary stress. For example, it’s our routine to have everything ready for the next day the night before. This makes it way easier for all of us to get ready in the morning and starts the day off with a lot less stress than we would have if we were running around the house looking for shoes, coats, and trying to pack lunches. My six year old has ADHD – the routine and a set schedule is critical for him just to function, and it makes life much easier for all of us.

2. Get Organized: Not knowing where everything is and tripping over stuff usually causes more stress for most people. Getting organized takes some time and effort, but if you find a system that works for you, you’re going to see amazing results pretty quickly. For example, I decided to organize all of our pens and paper in the kitchen. This took me all of five to ten minutes to do. It saves me a ton of frustration now every time I need to write a school excuse note or a shopping list. I also organized all of our clothes in a way so that putting them away and doing laundry now takes much less time – and we’re never searching for clothes to wear. Start off small and you’re going to see big differences to help keep motivating you to organize more.

3. Eat Right & Exercise: You’d be amazed how much a good diet can instantly improve your mood and give you more energy. Try cutting out sugary foods and swap refined grains with whole ones. Eat more protein and more veggies and you might just feel like a new person. Don’t worry about healthy foods costing more – you’ll soon find it saves you a lot of money when you stop buying junk food and processed meals. Don’t forget to exercise – it helps you workout a lot of pent up frustration and anger you might be bottling up.

4. Make Bill Paying Simple: I’ve signed up for auto billing with just about all of our regular monthly expenses where they just deduct it from the checking account or charge our credit card. This helps me make sure they are always paid on time. Rather that worrying about when the phone bill or insurance is due, it all gets automatically billed to one source. This saves not only a lot of time and frustration, but everything is always paid on time which means no late fees. The only thing I have to make sure each month is that there is enough money in the account.

5. Start Saving: I don’t know why, but it just feels good to know you’ve saved some money somewhere. Whether you’ve got a stash of pennies and quarters in a jar or a separate bank account with saved money it makes a difference. It’s like walking a tight rope and knowing there is a net below you in case you fall.

6. Stay Out of Debt: Chances are if you are like most people you have some debt. Some of us have a little debt, some of us have a lot of debt. The best thing to do is to stop going into debt. Don’t be tempted by that 18 months no financing charge card, don’t get a loan on a car you don’t really need, etc. etc. To start paying off your debt, start with the easy to pay ones first and knock them off little by little. You can also try paying an extra $30-$50 a month (or more if you can afford to) to help knock that down a little bit faster.

7. Schedule Time to Relax: Relaxation time should be as important as a meeting or doctor’s appointment. Make it part of your routine and give yourself at least 10 minutes of it each day with a longer 30 minutes to 1 hour time at least once a week. Life is always busy and crazy and taking just a short time out to do nothing or something you just enjoy doing will definitely make a huge impact on how well you do and deal with everything else.

8. Evaluate Your Job: Jobs can create a lot of stress for people, whether you’ve got deadlines and pressure from your boss or chasing your tail trying to please a customer. While changing jobs is a huge stress at first, it may end up saving you a lot of stress later down the road. Consider if you could find a similar one with your skills and experience that pays more or find a job that is truly something you enjoy. My husband, stressed out from his job that has him working over 60 hours a week last year decided to quit his job and deliver pizzas while starting our own business. People thought we were insane to say the least, but now we are making even more than he did at his old job – and working about a fraction of the time. Sure, there was some stress in the beginning, but now we’ve managed to reduce that stress dramatically.

9. Figure Out Your Spending Habits: Something interesting to do is to track your expenses and see where and how you are spending money. A lot of spending is habitual and can be changed. Maybe you are buying drinks at work out of a vending machine or at the gas station or every time you check out at a store for example. An easy way to save money is instead fill a reusable water bottle with water or tea, or try buying the drinks you like in a bulk quantity and keeping them in the car. Little changes do add up, even if you don’t see a difference right away. When you have some ideas on how to save more money you can definitely reduce stress.

10. Don’t Fight About Money: Whether you’re married with kids or living with a room mate, most of us are going to have people to fight with about money. Take some time and think about what problems are causing the most stress and what can be done to resolve these problems. If you share your money with someone, such as your spouse, it’s important you each have a clear idea of how its okay to spend money and how it’s not. If you each are on the same page with spending and saving goals it is considerably easier to stay on track, fight less, and as a result see less stress.

You don’t have to stress about money, and stress doesn’t have to keep you back from being able to save and get out of debt. Doing just a few simple things to make your life a little more simple will make all the difference!