Poor mental health can make earning and managing money harder. And worrying about money can make your mental health worse. It can start to feel like a vicious cycle. Here, you can find out more about organising your finances, claiming benefits when you have a mental health problem, dealing with services, and looking after your mental health when you’re worried about money.

Mental health can affect the way you deal with money

These are some common ways your mental health can affect the way you deal with money:

• If you're feeling low or depressed, you may lack motivation to manage your finances. It might not feel worth trying.
• Spending may give you a brief high, so you might overspend to feel better.
• You might make impulsive financial decisions when you’re experiencing mania or hypomania.
• If your mental health affects your ability to work or study, this might reduce your income.
• You might avoid doing things to stay on top of your money, like opening bills or checking your bank account. You might try to avoid thinking about money completely.
• Having a mental health problem might affect your insurance, so you end up paying more.

Money problems can affect your mental health

These are some common ways money can affect your mental health:

• Certain situations might trigger feelings of anxiety and panic, like opening envelopes or attending a benefits assessment.
• Worrying about money can lead to sleep problems.
• You might not be able to afford the things you need to stay well. This might be housing, food, water, heating, or treatments like medication and therapy.
• Money problems can affect your social life and relationships. You might feel lonely or isolated, or like you can’t afford to do the things you want to.

Tips for organising your finances

These are some tips you could try to help organise your money:

• Make sure you’re claiming any extra money or support you’re entitled to.
• Put all your important documents in one place so you can find them easily. This could be letters, bank statements, payslips, bills and receipts.
• Check your bank balance at a regular, set time so you know what you’re spending your money on and how much you have left.
• Build money tasks into your daily or weekly routine. You could allocate a set amount of regular time to think about any tasks you need to do around money, for example paying bills. You could plan a relaxing activity for after you’ve finished.
• Make a plan for ways to distract yourself, if you notice changes in your mood that might affect your spending.
• If possible, use cash instead of cards. Take out only the amount of money you can afford to spend, for example for a weekly shop.
• Create a budget. The Money Helper website has budgeting advice for people who are self-employed, on a zero hour contract, or claiming Universal Credit.
• Make a list of all the essential things you need to spend money on every month. This could be things like rent or mortgage payments, energy bills, phone bills and food shops.
• Manage your debts if you can afford to. You could set up a standing order to pay off your debts each month. Or you could use an online debt tool. 
• If you’re struggling to pay off your debts, get debt advice.
• If you’re struggling to pay off your debts, you could ask for a break from paying interest on your debts. This is possible under a Government scheme called breathing space.
• Use bank accounts which allow you to put money aside in separate pots. This can stop you spending the money you need for rent or bills.
• Set up direct debits for your bills and other regular payments so they don’t pile up.

Content sourced from Mind (mind.org.uk).