Have you ever looked at your friends and wished you had their lifestyle? Maybe it’s their expensive and trendy clothes? Or the huge house? Or the new cars?
It’s not uncommon to feel envious of other people’s finances and success, but let’s be honest, it’s not a nice feeling. Jealousy can make you resent the people you love, and at the end of the day, you’re the one who suffers from it.
So, it’s important to find ways to stop feeling like that towards your loved ones. Here’s what you could do to help get rid of your money envy.
Understand why you’re jealous
If you want to stop feeling envious, you may want to reflect on your jealousy, that way you’ll know what to do to take back control. Why are you so jealous of your friends’ money? Most of the time, envy comes when we’re not quite where we’d like to be.
Think about it, if you see your friends travelling the world and get jealous of their adventures, it might not be because you’d rather be in Bali, you’re probably just bored of your daily routine and need to spice things up.
And you know what? That’s fine, feeling jealous is a normal thing – we’re human beings after all!
But instead of taking it out on your loved ones or feeling resentful, make sure you understand where it comes from; this self reflection will help identify the real issue and you’ll be able to work on it.
Try to practice gratitude
It’s very easy to take things for granted and forget what we already have. But one way to fight jealousy is to stop comparing your life to others and start appreciating your existence as it is. Look a bit closer and notice all the things you’re lucky (or privileged) to have.
If you own a home, that’s something to be proud of. Remember that staycation in North Wales? Well, there’s another thing to be happy about.
And what about all the clothes you own? If it helps, make a list of things you’re grateful for. This could help you get some perspective and focus on the positive.
Spend less time on social media
With social media, you get to see what other people are up to, which in itself isn’t a bad thing as it’s quite nice to know what your friends are doing.
But when people online seem to be better off, it can spark a bit of jealousy. Again, that’s nothing to worry about, envy is a valid emotion as long as you’re in control.
However, if the feeling is getting worse and you’re starting to loathe yourself and spend on impulse because of what you see on Facebook or Instagram, then that’s an issue and perhaps a signal that you need a break.
We’re not saying you need to disappear from the online world (although that’s an option) but spending less time on social media and more time outside with real people could help both your mental and financial health.
Re-evaluate your relationship with them
If you’re envious of some of your friends’ lifestyle, then it may be worth re-evaluating your relationship with them. When do you feel jealous of them? If it’s all the time, then you may need to take some distance and ask yourself if you really see them as friends.
It’s ok to put yourself first and you shouldn’t feel guilty for cutting ties with people because of how they make you feel (even when it’s not done on purpose) – you should do what’s best for your mental health. Cutting ties with your rich friends isn’t always an option, but being honest and talking to them about your money envy is.
It may sound scary, but opening up could make you feel better and a bit lighter – trust us, it’s not very nice to let your feelings bottle up.
And by sharing your insecurities and jealousy with your friend, they may help and give you a more realistic view of their finances – trust us again, nobody’s life is perfect. The other advantage of starting the conversation is that you could get some useful financial tips from them.
Take control of your finances
Being jealous is quite a passive thing. How about you take action? If you’re envious of your wealthy friends and want to have similar life experiences, you might be able to! But you'll need to take control of your finances to get there.
Depending on your personal circumstances and financial situation, this may involve paying off debt, budgeting, building an emergency fund, and putting money aside for the future.
Once your finances are in order, you could perhaps look to invest to potentially give a boost to your money. With investing, returns aren’t guaranteed and there’s a risk you could end up with less than you initially put in. However, this also means that you could get higher returns. Remember that your strategy and holdings could play an important part on your returns.
If you don’t know where to start, you could ask your rich friends for some tips.
Or you could ask experts for help.
With robo-investing platforms, like Wealthify, the hard work is done for you. You get to choose how much to invest and your risk level, then our team of experts will build you a Plan and manage it on an ongoing basis, ensuring it remains on track with your investment style and goals.
Please remember the value of your investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than invested. If you’re unsure about investing, please seek financial advice.
Wealthify does not provide financial advice. Seek financial advice if you are unsure about investing.
