Money worries

[Mora Mora]

Hi everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone could offer me a bit of advice.
I've had anxiety for 13 years since I was 8 and over the years the focus of my anxiety has changed, for example when I was 9 I used to cry myself to sleep nearly every night for a year because I thought the dinosaurs had come back to life! Anyway for the last few years my focus has been my family which I am pleased to say I am getting much better at controlling but the most recent is my constant worrying about money.
A lot of people say "I hate ending money" but for me it makes me feel very ill at the thought of spending any money and takes well over an hour for me to buy something small. I've worked ever since I was old enough to get paid but I always worry that I'm going to run out of money and I'll end up on the street.
I'm moving into my own flat in the next few weeks and all I can think about is how expensive it's going to be, even though I have a very good stable job in a hospital.
I really don't want to let this rule my life and put a downer on this great opportunity... Does anyone have any advice or tips?
Thanks for reading
X

[Althea]

Moving into a nice new flat is great! And I also think that your caution isn't a bad thing there, because that's a time when people think about getting new this and that for the new place. Do you have a budget laid out? We mostly hear about how they help people who spend too much money, but I think they're also helpful to people who are afraid to spend because it shows them what they can spend and still have enough. If you know you have x amount of money to spend on house stuff for a month, for instance, and you've only spent half of that, you can be sure you're not running out.

[Mora Mora]

Thanks for replying :)
I definitely do have a budget and I know in my head that I can afford to live there and even have a few luxuries, but no matter how much I tell my self this I still have that nagging fear in the back of my mind.
Do you think it's something that will pass in time like my other worries did?

[Althea]

If you've had that pattern before, then yes, I think it's quite possible, and it would be understandable for the concern to be a little greater when you're preparing to make a change; I could see it settling down once you've settled into the new place for a bit.

[Zeitgeist]

I have three bank accounts, one for essentials, one for saving and one for slush. That way I can organise my brain around their use, making sure savings are there and essentials covered, I then have my slush fund which I feel comfortable wasting on anything, I essentially write it off as gone the second it moves into there so don't find myself worrying about it.

[Mora Mora]

That's a very interesting idea actually, definitely something I might benefit from.
Thank you for that tip! :)