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Losing money is a highly annoying thing to experience, but is something that unfortunately happens more often than most of us would like. Losing large sums of money can of course be devastating and having to replace your broken laptop/getting fined for something you didn’t expect/or losing money due to fraud can all seriously damage your cash flow and your ability to afford your everyday living requirements. Even losing smaller amounts though – such as when you realise you let a tenner fall out of your pocket – can be highly frustrating and enough to ruin your day.
Whatever amount of money you’ve lost then it’s of course going to be upsetting and something you would rather have avoided. Still though, if you take the right attitude and follow the right steps you can minimise the impact this has on your mood and on your finances. Here we will look at how to deal correctly with the phenomenon.
The Attitude
Something my Mum once taught me was to always remember when losing money that sometimes I have also gained money unexpectedly. We’ve all had unexpected windfalls whether it’s an unexpected bonus at work, a generous gift from a relative, or fiver we forgot was in our wallet. The trick is then to simply think of this as evening out. Sure you’ve lost some cash now, but at some point you’ll probably have some kind of windfall and that will cancel it out.
Take this view and recognize that there’s nothing you can do to bring it back. Being upset and angry isn’t going to help – you just need to focus on what’s next and on how you are going to deal with the situation going forward.
The Cash Flow
And when it comes to moving forward positively, that means finding ways to still afford all your upcoming expenses. The first thing to remember then is that some lost money can be compensated. In other words if you did break your laptop then you may actually be able to claim it on your insurance or the household insurance. Likewise if you’ve been a victim of fraud, there are various victim advice bureaus that may be able to help you get compensation.
Failing this another option is to try and do some extra work to make up for the lost cash. There are plenty of ways you can earn money on the side whether it’s putting in some extra hours at work, selling something you own on eBay or to a cash recycle shop, or doing some work online writing or providing design services. If you put in this extra work you can make back all the money you lost often, and as soon as you know that’s what you’re going to do you will find you feel a lot better about losing out in the first place.
Of course sometimes you will need more money more quickly than you can get by doing extra work online. In this case you may just need something to ‘tide you over’ and there are again a few options here whether it’s asking for an advance at work, or going to the ‘bank of Mum and Dad’ for help.
