Plenty of things and situations cause stress in life. But money—how to get it, how to spend it, how to save it, and more—has to rank high on any list of stressors you might make. After all, money is necessary for just about every aspect of life. You have to pay for housing and utilities. You have to pay for transportation and clothing. You have to pay for health care and food. And, of course, you have to pay taxes.
For a person in recovery from a substance use disorder, these ongoing expenses can be particularly difficult to manage. This is especially true if a person’s drug or alcohol use leads to financial problems like a job loss or the spending down of savings in order to purchase substances.
The challenges are compounded if you are haphazard about handling your money. If you don’t have a clear picture of how much you have, you likely find yourself worrying about it much of the time. And that stress increases the likelihood of a relapse.
Fortunately, there is a straightforward way to get things under control so you can make smart money decisions—and reduce the stress you feel about finances. Let’s walk through the process of making and sticking to a budget.
Breaking Down the Budgeting Process
Getting started on a budget is pretty easy. Here’s how it works:
- Calculate how much money you bring in each month. It is important to remember that you can’t just take your yearly salary and divide it by 12 because of the taxes and other deductions that come out of your check. You want to be sure you are working with the number that represents the dollars that actually make it to your bank account.
- What if you are an hourly worker? Ideally, you would have a steady schedule that allows you to count on a certain amount of income each month. But if your schedule fluctuates, you might have to figure your budget based on the lowest number of hours you might work in a month. In months when you work more than the minimum number of hours, you will have “extra” money to save or pay down bills.
- Calculate how much money goes out each month. This is worth doing carefully. You want to account for your house payment or rent, your car payment or lease payment or other transportation charges, your utilities and your phone bill, your groceries, and all the other recurring bills you might have. It is important to be thorough so that you get an accurate picture of your expenses.
- Compare the first number to the second number. Of course, you want the first number to be higher than the second number because that indicates that you are bringing in enough money to cover all of your expenses and still have some left over to spend on non-essentials, to save for the future, and to have on hand for emergency expenses that are bound to pop up.
- What if the expenses are higher than the income? In this situation, you will need to make some changes. Where can you lower expenses? What options do you have to bring in more income? Can you do a combination of those two things to get your finances on a firmer footing? The first step toward getting your money in order is to have a clear picture of where things stand now—and that is what the budgeting exercise allows you to see.
An Important Note: We Are Not Financial Advisors
What we have outlined above is the simplest way to think about your income and expenses. If you are struggling with your finances, however, you are going to want to seek out professional advice about how best to move forward so that your money situation is stable and less stressful.
It is the stress reduction that is most important to us here, because lowering your stress boosts your recovery and helps you stay sober.
You Can Bank on This: We Can Help You Get Sober
Money may be a major stressor, but few things are as stressful as struggling with drugs or alcohol. A substance use disorder chips away at your physical and mental health, your relationships, and, yes, your finances—and more besides. And if you try to give up the substances on your own, the rigors of withdrawal—including intense cravings and other physical and mental symptoms—are likely to overwhelm you and send you back to the drugs or alcohol. It really does not get any more stressful than that!
But there is good news: Treatment can help you get sober and give you the resources and strategies you need to maintain that sobriety over time.
At The Farley Center—located in Williamsburg, Virginia—we provide effective, personalized treatment for substance use disorders grounded in evidence, expertise, experience, and empathy. We can also address co-occurring mental health disorders—like depression, anxiety, or PTSD—that may be entangled with your substance use disorder because we recognize that sobriety and good mental health go hand in hand.
If you are ready to get sober, we are ready and able to help. You can take that to the bank.
