How to Stop Debt From Keeping You Up All Night

Stop Debt from Ruining Your Sleep

Debt is incredibly stressful. When you have high levels of debt, creditors calling, and bills adding up, it becomes tough to live the rest of your life. It’s hard to eat well, focus at work, and get a good night’s sleep. It’s common for people with debt to have trouble falling asleep, or to find themselves waking up in the middle of the night anxious about their debt.

Losing sleep over debt is common, and it is very bad for your health. When you don’t get enough sleep, it becomes more difficult to focus and it’s harder to live a healthy lifestyle. Not sleeping well negatively affects nearly every aspect of your life.

If you’re having trouble sleeping because of your debt, here are some tips that could help you.

Recognize your Situation

One of the first things you can do is recognize that you have a debt problem and that your debt is what’s keeping you up at night. There are many different symptoms of a debt issue, but here are a few common ones:

• You miss debt payments
• You’re not sure how much debt you have
• You’re receiving calls from creditors or collection agencies
• You’ve used one credit card to pay off another
• You have no savings
• You can’t afford living expenses without using a credit card

If any of these signs apply to you, and you’re having trouble sleeping, it could be due to a debt problem. Recognizing this is the first step towards solving it.

Deal with Debt During the Day

Trying to solve your debt problems in the middle of the night, or right before you go to sleep, isn’t productive. When you’re tired or stressed, you’re more likely to feel anxiety and worry, which can make it more difficult to fall asleep.

Instead, try to come up with a plan during the day. Set aside a few minutes in the morning or on the weekend when you’re feeling refreshed and calm to look at your finances. Avoid paying bills right before bed as well, as this can cause you stress. Handle this task in the daytime so it doesn’t keep you up at night.

Understand your Debt

A major reason why debt is so stressful for many people is because of the fear of the unknown. When you have a lot of debt, it’s common to stop paying attention to your bills. If you can’t pay them, you might not even open them. You might avoid answering your phone as well, in fear of having to deal with another creditor.

However, avoiding your debt doesn’t improve your situation. In fact, it makes it worse. Instead, set some time aside to look at all of your bill statements. See how much you owe and how much your debt is costing you. Even if it turns out that the situation is worse than you expected, once you know the facts, you can start coming up with a plan.

Come Up with a Plan

Debt can be stressful because it often feels uncontrollable. You might think that there’s nothing you can do to solve your issues. Taking the time to come up with a plan can help calm your mind, focus your efforts,  reduce your debt issues, and help you sleep.

A good place to start is by making a budget or, if you already have one, reviewing and revising your budget. Calculate all of your monthly costs, including debt repayment costs, and then come up with a way that you can afford everything on your current income. You may need to make some cuts to several expenses to make it work, but once you come up with a budget that works for you, you’ll be in a much better financial (and emotional) state.

Make Small Moves

Small things matter. Vow to stop using your credit card, decide to put money aside each month for savings, or to make the decision to cancel various subscription services (streaming services, gym memberships, etc.). These are small moves, but they certainly add up and making these moves will help you feel more in control, which will make it easier to sleep at night.

Get Help

If you’re struggling with debt and you’ve tried to come up with a budget, but you can’t make things work, know that there are options. Speaking with a licensed insolvency trustee can help you understand the choices that are available to you and help you resolve your debt issues.