Is it more or less than 13 hours a month?
In the midst of a daily grind, it can be easy for the mind to wander. From wondering what you can do with your weekends or how much your boss needs a reality check – our brains take us places that are seemingly unrelated to the task at hand.
Turns out that worry over finances makes up a substantial portion of our workplace mind wandering too. According to a Mercer study, NZ employees spend an average of 13 hours of work time each month stressing over money. Add in rising inflation and living costs, and it seems as if financial stress is ever-increasing.
The most commonly cited financial worries include feeling overwhelmed by managing expenses, not having enough savings for any surprise costs, or even just living from paycheck to paycheck. Money woes can zap the fun away from the best days in the office!
Angela Meyer, Workforce Specialist at Mercer, says “Many Kiwis feel like it’s not possible to save for a house, holiday, addition of a new child … because it feels futile to save every extra dollar”.
We face a lot of pressures in life – pressures of work itself (is my boss happy with my performance?), relationships (problematic in-laws anyone?), and parenthood (school, sleep, online activity, friends..the list is endless ), but this study shows that money is actually one of our top thoughts while at work. From feeling out of control when it comes to managing bills, lacking safety nets, and being stuck living payday to payday, the list of financial stressors is endless.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Working with an experienced lender could be a game changer, as managing repayments can make a huge difference to your financial situation. They may be able to adjust interest rates, fees and repayment terms to make things a little easier.
Loansmart provides free Loan Assessments to help you see how much you could save on current debt repayments. The team’s philosophy is ‘smarter loans – faster’ and that’s what they deliver on a daily basis.
If you spend a lot of time worrying about money, you may want to look at how you can make your repayments more affordable. You can check out real-life scenarios of people who were facing money woes, yet who managed to get back on track by restructuring their loans. Or you can give the team at Loansmart a call today to talk through your options.
