This post may contain some affiliate links for your convenience. We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

The day my husband lost his job led to many emotions. The one that stuck around the longest and still strikes even today, is fear. Fear of not being able to buy groceries, fear there isn’t enough to pay the bills, and fear there just isn’t enough. Fear and money worries was so scary we had to figure out a strategy to live even though we were scared.

How to Overcome Fear and Money Worries

Related: This is what Happened when my Husband lost his job
Related: Top 8 ways to cut your budget when you are suddenly unemployed

I want you to know that if you are struggling with how paralizing this fear is, I know how you feel. I know you are loosing sleep because of it. And I know you think about it all the time and I know you wonder when it will end.

If there is anything I can do for you right now, that is to encourage you that you will get through this. But first you need a few tools.

Prayer

First you need to pray. Pray for wisdom on what to pay first. Ask God to provide the food this week so you can pay the electric bill. The amount of prayer we did during unemployment and still do to this day is what brought us peace. So pray.

I realize prayer isn’t something that comes easy for some. I am often asked HOW do you pray? My honest answer is I just talk to God. I talk to Him like I talk to my friend. I tell Hem everything and then I wait and see what happens. There are some books that have strengthened my understanding of prayer, these are my 2 favorite: Lord, Teach me to Pray, by Kay Arthur and Intercessory Prayer: How God can use your Prayers to Move Heaven and Earth by Dutch Sheets. Click on the links and get them on Amazon.

Faith

Next you need faith. Faith that you will get through this. Right now your finances are a mess and your life might be also. But you will make it through this. One day at a time. Sometimes it’s even one minute at a time. A little faith that unemployment won’t last long (and it shouldn’t with today’s job market) and a little strategy about how you are going to make it through this.

Strategy

Which leads me to strategy. Now you have to think strategically when you have no money coming in. You have to look at your savings and see how many months can you make it? If you only have 2 months of savings, then you need to cut your expenses. If you have more saved thats great, but cutting expenses now will allow that money to last longer.

Creating a strategy that is going to allow you to make it through one day at a time is key. Don’t worry about the debt. Right now, you need to focus on is it time to sell the house, do we need to down size, can I sell anything that can bring in money now. Those are the thoughts you need to have.

 

Sit down with your husband and ask him what your strategy should be. Our strategy was to make sure we had food to eat, and paid all our bills on time. Once we ran out of money, then we had to decide what bills to pay. We chose to pay as many as we could and make sure we still had food on our table. This was the most stressful time because we had never not paid our bills. Figuring out the strategy we were going to use was the part that made this time easier.

 

I do not recommend making the strategy without your husband. Make the decisions together. That way when you get through it you can’t blame the other person for a decision that was made together. Trust me, that will happen. When the stress is high, there will be a time when you fight and blame each other for the financial mess you are in. So make the decisions together and save yourself some pain.

Implement

Now that you have a strategy, you have to implement it. Fear is going to show up and life is going to be hard. This is where you need to pray and have a lot more faith because it’s hard. It’s hard to go day by day with no money. It’s hard to look at your bank account and see $5 or less and know you don’t know when you will have a check to put in there. And it’s hard when the creditors call and you don’t have the money to pay them.

Be Thankful

Finally, I would like to leave you with this last thought. Be THANKFUL. I know this is going to sound off the wall and you are probably thinking, “Steph, you are whacked!” I know being thankful when you feel so broken and so low in life is the last thing you want to do.

But seriously, you have a ton to be thankful for! You and your husband are a live! Your kids are a live! You have a place to call home and you know this isn’t going to be the place where you are forever. Be thankful.

 

Let’s take a minute and pray for your situation. 🙂 Father, my new friend reading this needs your peace over her situation. I ask you to release your peace. I ask you to bring a wisdom and understanding to her that she didn’t have before. Father, I ask you to open the doors to her finances and release something new in them, maybe it’s a new job, maybe it’s a job promotion or a side hustle that can bring in the extra income they need. Father whatever her need is, I ask you to meet it. Thank you Father for always being a good good Father. In Jesus Name, Amen.