No debt: 5 ways to forget about loans

If you quarreled with a friend, quit your job with a scandal, or broke your leg, this is temporary stress. The body has the resources to withstand, hold out and live happily on. As for the stress of debt, it never seems to end. Such nervous tension lasts and lasts, exhausting a person and plunging him into complete hopelessness.

Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist at Stanford University, argues that debt not only spoils the general tone and mood, but also hits health. Anxiety and stress are combined with a sense of hopelessness arising from the fact that a person cannot change the situation, at least right now. Research confirms harm to health: people who have taken out a home on a mortgage are more likely to see a doctor.

TV series about bandits, just to collect credits … our people love. Vasya Oblomov

However, according to FOM sociologists, in 2013, 29% of Russians had outstanding loans. This number has only increased over time. One, two or three debts, a bunch of loans. Each person runs the risk of being seduced by new technology, beautiful clothes or other things that can be completely dispensed with.

When the joy of a purchase disappears, harsh everyday life sets in with payments and hopelessness approaching. Maybe five simple tips will help you think differently about finance and prioritize so that you don't have to waste your health on useless things.

1. Put money in place. To the right place

David Krueger, a financial trainer and former psychiatrist based in Houston, Texas, argues that people often use finance as a means of self-affirmation. “We attach great importance to money and make it synonymous with opportunity, the embodiment of power and proof that we are worth something in this life,” says Kruger.

"Why are the most expensive, branded things important for my image?"
"Why is money so valuable to me that I sacrifice my health for it?"

2. Credit is an illusion of freedom

One recent study found that more often than not, people borrow to feel stronger and freer. After spending all your credit card money, you feel liberated if the limit is increased. You experience the same sensations when you borrow the next several thousand. And it doesn't matter that the amount of your debts has become just astronomical.

This is a matter of short-term perception. You know you have to give, but NOW you have more opportunities. Remember that this is just an illusion that will collapse very soon. This understanding will help to spend the money borrowed from the bank more rationally or not take a loan at all.

3. Pump up your "self-control muscles"

Roy Baumeistey, a social psychologist at the University of Florida, investigated the mechanisms of self-control. The results showed that a person's willpower is limited. In other words, by directing efforts to one thing, you do not leave resources for another.

But you can turn your attention to finance. Track your spending every day, record your check totals, and plan smarter. This will help you channel the efforts of your "self-control muscles" towards finances.

4. Don't go shopping when you're feeling depressed

Studies show that very often people make expensive purchases on credit to support their self-esteem. When self-dissatisfaction arises, drastic measures are required. It is not so important what the ego suffers from: the boss scolded, once again showed on TV “how to live in order to be worthy” …

Niro Sivanatan, the author of the study, believes that when people buy high-priced goods, people seem to declare themselves in a positive way and begin to feel whole and fulfilled.

The very process of acquiring an expensive item creates a feeling of comfort.

But the scientist found a cure for the addiction. When customers focused on something else, remembered what was of paramount importance to them (family, health, relationships with friends), their race for status goods stopped.

5. Beware of the "What the hell ?!"

This effect was discovered by researchers from the University of Toronto (Canada). Initially, it dealt with diets. It turned out that dieters tend to break down at the slightest feeling of guilt from not adhering to the diet.

That is, a person eats a little more, begins to judge himself and says: “What the hell ?! I've already ruined everything. After that, he absorbs even more food. Such a law applies not only with diets, but also with any activity in which the manifestation of willpower is necessary. For example, when a person quits smoking, gives up alcohol or wants to stop spending money on unnecessary expensive things.

Stress is born from the feeling of guilt. A person needs to calm down, and he will do it in the usual way (as a rule, with the help of the fact that he so wants to quit).

It works great with debt. The person is in debt, he has stress, which can be relieved with the help of a new loan. The illusion of freedom and the joy of shopping, short-term comfort and stress again. A vicious circle that can only be destroyed by evaluating your emotions. Reflect on the next time you go to take out a loan. This will help you cope with feelings of guilt and stress.