Money fears are common – which is probably not reassuring if you’re unfortunate enough to be experiencing them.

The fear of not having enough money can come from lots of different places in your life but it’s usually to do with employment – either you’re not being paid enough or you’ve been made jobless or your pension and savings aren’t going as far as you’d expected.

Whatever the reason, what can you do about this fear?

Watch your spending

It’s easy to overspend, especially with internet purchases and contactless card payments becoming more and more normal.

Unlike physical cash, electronic cash doesn’t seem as real. Possibly because you’re not actually handing over notes and coins to make a purchase, just a swipe of your card or your phone or a click to use the already saved details. Then the amount goes direct from your bank account or adds to the end of month summary on that credit card bill you don’t dare look at.

Make a conscious effort to ask yourself whether your spending is really necessary as these amounts can add up really fast and turn your fear of not having enough money into reality.

Be careful about not spending enough

Sam Walton (founder of Walmart) was famously frugal, even when he owned one of the largest companies in the world.

Likewise, the investor Warren Buffett (one of the world’s richest people) doesn’t like spending money on himself. He mainly invests it via his companies.

This is common amongst rich people as well as people who are not as rich,

They’re being frugal because they’re worried about losing it all and having to go back to a much poorer time.

If you do the same, there’s a good chance that’s where your money worries stem from. Your mind goes through all sorts of possible scenarios, all with less money than you’d like, and worries about them coming true.

The key word there is “possible” – your mind doesn’t think about whether these options are likely to happen, just that they could possibly happen.

Anxiety about not having enough money

This is another way that people worry about the money they do – or don’t – have.

It can keep you awake at night, whether the anxiety is founded in real life or not.

You need to take a step back and decide how real the problem is.

If it’s there in black and white with final demands coming all the time, you have to face it. There are options – a debt counsellor can be well worth talking to.

But if the problem is more in your mind than anywhere else, what can you do?

Practice gratitude

Being grateful more often is free (a bonus if you’re already worried about money) and also helps lift your mood and that of others you come into contact with.

Simply saying “thankyou” helps a lot.

And writing down at least three things you’re grateful for before you go to sleep each night reinforces the feeling and gives you better vibes when you sleep.

Get a good night’s rest

Sleep is important and it’s easy for it to get disrupted when you’re constantly thinking about money.

Get into a good bedtime routine

• Go to bed at about the same time each evening
• Make sure your bedroom is as dark as possible and that the temperature is as consistent as possible
• Avoid the news and worrying programs before you go to sleep
• Cut down on caffeine long before bedtime
• Relax before going to sleep – listen to some chill out music or an audio like this one that’s been designed to give you a good night’s rest

Reduce your negative thoughts

Money worries are bad enough on their own but they’re often accompanied by other negative thoughts.

It’s not always easy to get rid of negative thoughts but when you catch yourself having them, do your best to turn them round by looking for the brighter, flip, side of them.

Or play some music inside your head to drown them out – a bit like putting your fingers in your ears as a child and saying “la la la” to pretend something unhappy wasn’t happening.

Or play yourself a hypnosis audio to help get rid of negative thoughts.

Use hypnosis

Words can be a very powerful way to change our worries and thought patterns.

Hypnosis can do that – plus it relaxes you anyway when you’re listening to it, which makes it win-win as you’ll spend about 25 minutes listening to the audio and will come out of the experience feeling more relaxed, not just about money but generally.

If you’d like to do that, download a hypnosis audio to get over your money worries now.