WITH RISING fast-food prices setting off a national outcry, rents outpacing wages, pundits not letting the whole recession talk die, and your daily burrito looking way smaller than it used to, it's no wonder you're feeling financially frazzled. It's not just you. Forty-seven percent of American adults say they're stressed about money and their mental health is suffering because of it, according to a May report from Bankrate. Turn to social media for a "break" from all that and you're inundated with posts about "money dysmorphia," "loud budgeting," and "financial fasting." It's a lot.

If you can't shed your money stress, some experts say, it might be because you're going about it backward. "On the surface, finance seems like it's all nuts and bolts," says Spencer Sherman, founder and financial advisor at Abacus Wealth Partners and author of The Cure for Money Madness. But classic money-management strategies-like sticking to the 50-30-20 budgeting rule (50 percent of your money goes to necessities, 30 to things you want, 20 to savings) and not buying overpriced sneakers (loafers are in, anyway)-tend to snip away at that stress rather than pulling out the root.

So instead of just searching for another app or system that might help tame this money drama for good, get to know your beliefs and emotions about money, Sherman says. Shame, fear, and other mucky self-conscious feelings can block you from looking at the reality of your finances, let alone managing them with confidence. Worse, the anxiety from these feelings might lead you to make a rash financial decision, even when you know better. "Money intersects with our sense of survival, and that's what makes it so scary," Sherman says. "It's like a grizzly bear coming at us." Except bear spray doesn't work on money stress. You need strategies.