Money & Wellbeing

Money can be a massive stress for anyone. But if we are already struggling with our mental health, it can feel completely overwhelming. Our Money and Wellbeing course at Stepping Stones recovery college could be extremely helpful to you during these times of financial uncertainty and help you to more easily navigate the increasing costs of living.

Please be assured that during this three part course, there is absolutely no need for you to disclose anything about your own personal circumstances. The sessions are about providing guidance and signposting, so that you leave feeling much more in control of all aspects of your financial circumstances.

Also, we are an independent charity and have no links to any government or council services. And of course, everything that we chat about is completely confidential and stays within the room.

Money & Wellbeing 3 part course

This course is for ANYONE!

You could be in work, out of work, have savings or no savings, rent, have a mortgage, have no mortgage, have mental health troubles that affect your day to day living or not, or be caring for someone else.

As part of our Money and Wellbeing course here at Stepping Stones, we firstly help you to find out whether you might be eligible for additional benefits - ones that you may not even have known about!

There are many circumstances where we may be eligible to increase our income but we may simply have been be unaware of this.

We also look at debt and show where you can get free, totally confidential advice. Professional guidance is freely available to help manage all kinds of debt. This can often take away the pressure of creditors chasing you as you will have in place a more realistic and achievable payment plan.

Finally, in the last part of the course, we look at easy ways to stay in control of our money with some simple budgeting tools. This will help you to be more aware of what you are spending money on, have left over and ways to avoid over spending.

How having a mental health problem can affect our spending?*

• 93% spent more than usual

• 92% found it harder to make financial decisions

• 74% put off paying bills

• 71% avoided dealing with creditors

• 56% took out a loan that they would not otherwise have taken out

Here are some top tips others have found can help stop overspending

1. Tell someone you trust about the warning signs you might be overspending, or signs you’re struggling with your mental health.

2. Give your cards to someone you trust or put them somewhere difficult to access.

3. Don't save your card details into websites.

4. Delete apps where you usually overspend, or apps which encourage you to spend.

5. If you get tempted by adverts on social media, limit how much time you spend on it.

6. Find ways to delay purchasing. You could tell yourself, "I will buy this tomorrow if I still feel like it then". You could take photographs of the things you want or write them down in a wish list.

7. Distract yourself with something else that makes you feel good.

8. Consider telling your bank that you have a mental health problem. They may be able to add a note to your file to look out for unusual spending. See our information on telling your bank you have a mental health problem.

9. Some people find it helpful to avoid credit cards completely.

10. Attend the FREE Money and Wellbeing course at Stepping Stones Recovery College in Bracknell. The College is totally free and open to anyone living, working or studying in the Bracknell Area.

Register and find out more here.

*Thank you to Money and Mental Health Policy Institute for the figures used in this blog.