In yesterday’s post, I talked about the difference between acute and chronic economic stress. I concluded that most of us are squarely in the “chronic stress” category when it comes to our financial lives.
One of the things that I mentioned were the dangers of feeling hopeless and helpless in terms of doing anything to change one’s circumstances. It makes sense then, that Tip #1 for managing chronic economic stress is to DO SOMETHING. Or at the very least, hitch yourself to someone else who is doing something. Working on a political campaign you believe in, volunteering for an organization helping people even more hard hit than you, taking a class on managing personal finance – doing something always feels better than doing nothing. Not only that, it can help you maintain your mental health by warding off those hopeless/helpless feelings.
Need a jumpstart? Check out Starbucks’ new initiative (which starts today, how perfect is that?):
Starbucks is donating five million dollars to seed a fund at the Opportunity Finance Network, which in turn will provide capital grants to select Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The CDFIs will provide loans to underserved community businesses, including: small business loans, community center financing, housing project financing and microfinance.
Stay tuned for more tips as the week goes on.
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