When people typically think about health and wellness, the first thoughts that come to mind are exercise, nutrition, and staying active. The issue that students often overlook is their financial issues that inevitably cause them to have financial stress. Financial stress can stem from worrying about how you are going to make next month’s rent payment, paying off credit card debt, worrying about paying next semester’s tuition, and even how you are going to pay for your next meal. When financial stress is not given the attention that it deserves through proper money management, these issues can lead to problems with physical, mental, and emotional health. Ohio State University’s 2015 National Student Financial Wellness Study found that a stunning 70 percent of college students reported feeling stressed bout their finances. It is important that people understand that they are not alone and there are resources that can help including Powercat Financial.
- Physical Health
The daily stress of your financial situation can impact your physical health in various ways including raising your risk of chronic illness, having trouble sleeping, headaches, stomach aches, and migraines.
- Mental Health
Your financial situation can also impact your ability to have good mental health as it has been linked to raising your risk of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.
- Emotional Health
Another area in which having financial stress can impact your overall health is emotional health. It can affect school performance, job performance, raise the risk of relationship problems (strains on relationships with your significant other and friendships), and even your outlook on life in general.
Sometimes there is nothing that we can do to completely eliminate some types of stress, but the truly important thing is how what we do to manage and minimize the negative potential effects stress can have on our daily lives.
What can we do?
A positive way to go about minimizing the affect financial stress has on our daily lives is to address the issues head on and give those issues the attention they deserve. One way to address these issues is to visit the Powercat Financial office. A peer financial counselor could work with you one-on-one to first find the source of where your financial stress is stemming from and then provide you with the resources/education to remedy the issue. Powercat financial offers help with topics such as:
- Budgeting/overspending
- Student Loans
- Credit
- Transitioning into the workforce
Other resources include:
Visiting a local Financial Counselor/Advisor. Financial Counseling/Advising can have a huge impact on learning more about how you currently view money and may identify some potential bias you may have that negatively affect your ability to manage money. An advisor or counselor can also give advice on how to change your behavior and increase your financial behavior so that the problems you are facing will not happen again in the future.
Anytime you want help with student loans, job offers, budgeting or have additional questions about other financial topics, remember Powercat Financial is available for Zoom or in-person financial counseling sessions. They may be requested via our website link at www.k-state.edu/powercatfinancial.
We also have walk-in days on the first Friday of every month where students can simply walk-in without an appointment to ask a quick money question and get a free pop. Our next Pop Up to Powercat Financial day will be next Friday October 1st.
Do not miss our other upcoming events including:
Investing 101 on October 4th from 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. located in the K-State Union in room 207. This event will discuss the basics regarding investing and what student need to know before starting to invest.
Eating Healthy on a Budget on October 7th from 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. also located in the K-State Student Union.
Alex Miller
Peer Counselor II
Powercat Financial
302 K-State Student Union, Third Floor
918 N. 17th Street
Manhattan, KS 66506-2800
785.532.2889
www.k-state.edu/powercatfinancial
PowercatFinancial@k-state.edu
