Living paycheck-to-paycheck can place a huge physical, mental, and emotional strain on people. If you’ve ever struggled to pay for basic services or found yourself facing a mountain of debt, then you understand just how real financial anxiety is. In extreme circumstances, anxiety over money may even cause people to make poor choices that exacerbate their troubles. The key to getting out of debt is learning not just how to manage your finances, but your emotions as well. In this post, I’ll explain how I’ve coped with money-woes in the past, and offer five helpful tips for conquering financial fear:

Educate Yourself

Do you know what a fixed-rate mortgage is? Or how about a money-market account? Or what’s the difference between a stock and a bond? If you do, then fantastic. If not, then it’s probably a wise idea to educate yourself about basic financial terms and concepts. Doing this will help you follow any conversations you have with bankers, creditors, etc. Plus, by looking into basic financial terminology, you’ll also learn about fundamental best practices as well.

Talk it Out

Obviously, people in a financial bind should be willing to speak with money lenders and agents who can assist them. However, it’s also important to be willing to speak with your family members about money issues too. No, you don’t have to ask for charity, sympathy, or pity. But you should let your significant other as well as your closest family members know you’re having a tough time. At the very least, they’ll be able to offer moral support and cogent advice, which may very well prove more valuable than any loan possibly could.

Prioritize

It’s easy for financial obligations to quickly become overwhelming –– especially if you don’t know how to organize them properly. Make a list of all your bills and prioritize them. It’s okay to defer payment on inessential items from time to time in order to cover crucial expenses.

Pick up a Side Hustle

Renting out a spare room to travelers on Airbnb, signing up for a ride-share service like Uber, even freelance-writing blogs about EDTA tubes –– activities like these that help you bring in extra cash will provide both a monetary and psychological boost. Just remember that paying off debt can take a long time, so don’t beat yourself up if your side hustle doesn’t completely eradicate your money problems.

Plan Ahead

No one knows exactly what the future will hold. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make reasonable financial decisions for your future. Investing in conservative stock options, setting up a retirement fund, and creating an emergency fund are all great ways to give yourself peace of mind. Rather than playing fast-and-loose with your capital, a few sensible choices can remove a lot of the guesswork and anxiety associated with financial forecasting.

Whether you realize it or not, starting a business is a major life decision that will have big repercussions. And that’s particularly true for inexperienced entrepreneurs. Indeed, there’s nothing quite like deciding to go into business for yourself. Taking the reins for the first time will change your life in a myriad of ways –– some good and some bad. Here, we’ll dissect what it really means to become a business owner and outline four tangible ways your life will be altered by it:

Work Relationships

Some of the most meaningful relationships people build are with their coworkers. Business owners, though, should note that the nature of their work relationships will change once they become the boss. This isn’t to say that business leaders can’t have strong relationships or even be friends with their employees or partners. However, at the end of the day, business owners have to prioritize the interest of their company –– and sometimes that means making unpopular decisions. What’s more, people will simply treat you differently knowing that you’re the boss. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something all ambitious professionals should recognize.

Financial Standing

At the very least, starting a business will force entrepreneurs to change the way they think about their financial status. Indeed, most professionals split their holdings into personal and business accounts. This way they can begin to build business credit and apply for business loans. What’s more, the success (or failure) of a business will likely have an impact on an owner’s quality of life. Expect something to change one way or the other when you open your doors for the first time!

Skill Set and Knowledge Base

Modern business owners wear a lot of hats. One day, they may have to complete a tax form using IL 1120 instructions to protect their business interests, and the next collaborate with a professional designer to create a new brand logo. The point is, entrepreneurs are constantly learning new skills and expanding their business acumen. Business owners can never really afford to “rest on their laurels,” so to speak.

Free Time

Americans are known for working long hours. Unfortunately, moving up the ladder to become a small business owner isn’t likely to offer you increased free time. Instead, business owners typically burn the midnight oil and deal with a great amount of stress. Weekends, holidays, vacations, sick days –– small business owners have to be on call to handle emergencies at virtually all times. It’s unwise to assume that starting a business won’t cut into your personal schedule or affect your ability to pursue other interests. Fortunately, there are few things more rewarding than achieving business success through hard work and dedication.

It’s tempting to think that if you avoid facing your debt head-on, it will somehow magically disappear. But the truth is that inaction just gives debt room to grow as interest accumulates. Denial may buy you time, but it’s borrowed time; everyone has to face the music sooner or later.

But what’s a consumer to do when the amount they owe is simply more than they can pay? That’s a lot of zeroes, you’re thinking as you look at how much you owe. Before doing something drastic like selling everything you own or filing for bankruptcy, consider negotiation.

Wait—you can negotiate with your creditors? Short answer: Yes. And sometimes you can reach a mutual agreement that lowers the amount of debt you have to pay. Keep reading to learn more.

Why Might Creditors Negotiate?

Creditors may be willing to negotiate when there’s a risk they’ll receive nothing. When consumers file for bankruptcy, many of their unsecured debts are forgiven. This means creditors will have to write off the debt as a loss for their bottom line. So, if negotiation means they’ll at least get partial payment, they may view it as more desirable than the alternative.

Note that creditors are more likely to settle for less if you can transfer the funds immediately, or at least within a window like 30 days. It gives you bargaining power to have a sum of money saved up before reaching out to begin negotiations. This is the ethos behind enrolling in debt settlement programs, which require consumers to make monthly deposits in an account until there’s enough to “play ball.”

Debt Negotiation: A Well-Known Secret

Before Andrew Housser co-founded the Freedom Financial Network, which includes the debt settlement organization Freedom Debt Relief, he was unaware that consumers could negotiate with creditors. He got the inspiration to start a company that negotiates on behalf of clients based on a friend’s story. This friend owed $30,000 in delinquent debt, and debt collectors were hounding him for repayment. The last straw was receiving a threatening message from a collector. This event prompted the friend to call back and yell at the collector. Yelling transitioned into negotiating. The friend was able to talk down his debt from $30,000 to $9,000.

As Housser writes, “I had no idea that creditors were open to negotiating their debts and would be willing to settle for a fraction of what was owed. And if I wasn’t aware of it, I figured the average consumer was also in the dark.”

This example just goes to show that it often feels like a “well-known secret” that people may be able to reach an agreement with creditors to pay back part of what’s owed. Instead of treating the total balance of your debt like an inflexible sum you must pay in full—which leads to all-or-nothing thinking—consider it a starting point. After all, your creditor may just be willing to lower the amount owed if you can pay the remaining balance in a timely manner.

Tips for Successfully Settling with Creditors

There are a few ways to approach debt settlement. As mentioned above, you can enroll in a program. This will involve making monthly contributions to a dedicated account until you have enough to begin negotiations. Then a team of negotiators will talk to creditors on your behalf, attempting to settle for less. As with any debt elimination strategy, there are pros and cons. Just make sure the program you choose has a track record of helping clients.

You may choose to try do-it-yourself debt negotiation. Here are a few tips to keep in mind from The Balance:

• Know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

• Start by offering a low percentage of your total balance. Then work your way upward.

• Stay positive, professional and confident throughout the conversation.

• Get the settlement agreement in writing.

Yes, you can negotiate with creditors. Get a strategy before you pick up the phone or enroll in a program to increase the chances your efforts will pay off.