What Is Your “Money Language”?
I have a friend that doesn’t spend a dime beyond what is absolutely necessary. She never misses an opportunity to cut costs and carefully puts away everything left after her bills are paid. Seriously, she can squeeze two pennies and make Lincoln burp. On the other end of the spectrum, my other friend never saves ANYTHING. She barely covers her bills and is constantly shopping and going out. A real YOLO kinda gal.
When it comes to money, your habits and attitudes have been shaped by a lot of factors. Your family of origin, religion, culture, age, romantic partners and social pressure have all likely played a role in how you save and spend. While the factors that influence us are varied, I have a theory that most of us fall into one of a few categories when it comes to our style of money management.
The Scrooge: Never spends a dime more than necessary. Feels bad about dipping into savings, even when necessary.
The High Roller: Money burns a hole in their pocket. Always has to have the new thing, always in “treat yo self” mode.
The Ostrich: Ignores everything and just kinda hopes it’s all going to be okay. Included accessory: pile of unopened bills.
The Pendulum: Binge and purge mentality. Like a yo-yo diet, they sacrifice and save and deny themselves things until they just can’t take it anymore, and then they go overboard spending.
The Bleeding Ulcer: Constantly checking numbers and balances and always worried about spending too much or not saving enough or not investing correctly. Thinking about money keeps them up at night.
Over the next month, we will break down each of these styles in more detail, including the positive and negative implications of each and how to recognize and break the bad habits that are associated with them. We will also explore what shapes our values about money, and some strategies for finding balance in our spending.
Where do you fall on the spectrum? What are the factors that contributed to your money habits and attitudes? Let us know in the comments!
The Drunk Witch
Damn, I love this time of year. The air starts to get cooler, and all the spooky things start to appear. I found this recipe the other day, and it’s definitely going to on the menu at my next party. Not only is it beautiful and purple-y, you can’t beat the name. Because if they’re going to call you a witch, you might as well lean into it, amirite?
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces blue curacao
2 ounces grenadine
top with Sprite
For extra funsies, rim the glass in green sugar. Drink up, witches!
