Believe

Jul

2022

4 More Tips to Improve Your Financial Wellness

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We have provided common sense money advice before. Here are 4 more tips to help you improve your financial wellness. These additional tips should be a big boost to transforming your financial wellness for the better.

1. Pay in Cash

To help you stick to your budget; you need to remove the temptation to swipe your credit card. So it is better to carry cash with you. This way, you can allocate different amounts to different expenses instead of taking out your credit card. You can use envelopes or your wallet dividers to visually distribute your money. With this method, you also get to see how much money you have left. This means that you will be able to say “No” to some expenses or money leaks that is not allocated for in your current budget. Paying for your purchases in cash is one way to help you get closer to your goal of being debt-free.

2. Build Savings

Before you start investing; make sure that you already have your emergency savings in place. Your savings account should be equal to 6 months of your income. This allows you to be able to pay for your basic necessities and regular expenses in case you lose your job. It will also ensure that you have money to support you in case of emergency situations such as needing to repair your house due to natural calamities or needing to buy a new laptop for work, etc. This is different from an allocated savings account for planned expenses. For example, if you want a new sofa; then you can save up for that amount aside from your emergency savings.

3. Financial Health Check

As you are tracking your expenses and trying to stick to your budget; it is important to do a regular health check of your finances. This allows you to see where you can improve things and create a better budget that suits your current needs and goals. If you are paying-off credit card debt, then talk to personnel from your bank to review where you are in your goal. If you are already investing, then review your losses and gains and any potential areas for further growth. More importantly, check the status of your savings; have you maintained it and/or is it growing as your income has grown? What other things can you do to generate more income?

4. Maximize Employee Benefits

One more thing that you can do to improve your financial wellness is to check if your employer provides financial wellness programs. This could be in the form of monthly contributions (thru government agencies) or other programs offered by the company itself with other 3rd party partners. For example, your company might have partnered with a bank to provide employees with special rates for maintaining a time deposit or savings account. Ask your colleagues or inquire from designated personnel in your office if these options are available.

If you are just starting out on your financial wellness journey; make sure that you do your financial wellness assessment first. This way, you know which areas you can improve on and which areas you are good at currently. Don’t forget to keep improving your financial literacy as well. Remember that there is no one budget or investment strategy that fits everyone and works all the time. You always need to be aware about where your money goes so you can adjust your financial strategies accordingly.

Feature Image: Original Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.

Jul

2022

Signs You Are in A Toxic Work Place

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Are you thinking of quitting your job? If you are, you must be experiencing any of the signs that you are in a toxic work environment. If you see any instances of these in your work place; then it is time to rethink your career strategy. Being in a toxic work place for too long will definitely affect your occupational wellness.

Using Fear to Manipulate

Bullying, threatening and other manipulative behavior is a definite sign of a toxic work place. You may find a coworker or even a supervisor using fear to control you or a coworker. If this happens, be sure to document such incidents and report to higher authority.

One way fear is used to manipulate employees is when they are required to achieve almost impossible tasks or quotas. If they fail to meet said requirement, they will lose their job. This is especially prevalent in sales jobs where you are required to reach certain sales amounts or quotas. However, these tasks should be given ample time to be accomplished. Training and other learning methods should also be provided to the employee to do a better job. A healthy work place should provide you with the opportunity to learn and grow.

Discrimination Through Cliques

Naturally, there will always be coworkers who work better together or a team who prefer to work with each other. If teams discriminate against new colleagues or other coworkers from other departments; then it contributes to an unhealthy work environment.

It is okay to form teams that bond together so they can work more effectively as a team. Not being open to working with others or excluding new employees from your team; has a negative effect on the whole company culture. Different teams contribute to the health of the whole company in different ways. Everyone’s contribution is important. New colleagues can also contribute new ideas or new ways of doing things.

Encouraging Unhealthy Competition

One of the side effects of having unhealthy cliques in the work place is unhealthy competition. Teams from the same department who have the same goal may engage in healthy competition. This brings out the best in every member. This also makes everyone feel good in doing their best to achieve their individual as well as team goals.

In a toxic work place; teams may resort to hiding information from other teams. They may even sabotage other teams’ efforts in order to achieve their own goals. This usually results from fear of losing their jobs if they don’t achieve their targets. Such an environment is not only stressful for everyone but for the whole company in the long term. This fosters aggression and even encourages fear tactics and the creation of toxic cliques. A healthy company should foster a culture of unity and helping each other.

Indecisive Leaders or Management

Higher ups usually approve certain processes and decisions in a team. In a healthy system, the process of approving proposals, requests, and other documents and processes, should not take too long. This shows a smooth flow of communication between managers and subordinates. It is a sign of a healthy system in place in the work place.

When the process of getting anything approved by higher management takes too long, or requires too many signatures, or even takes a lot of meetings to decide on; it may be a sign of a toxic work environment. Having indecisive leaders or a complicated management communication process ends up delaying projects. It also makes the tasks of employees frustrating. Employees usually end up feeling that they can’t get anything done. Because of this, they may also end up not trying to make good proposals or suggestions since they won’t get a timely or favorable feedback anyway.

If any of these signs are in your work place, then it is time to review your options. Unless you are in a leadership position that allows you to make major changes in the work place, it may be time to find another job. You might also consider finally pursuing your passion and starting your own business. In the meantime, be sure to take care of your mental and emotional health. Don’t let you toxic work place or toxic colleagues get to you and ruin your day or your future prospects.

Feature Image: Original Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash.