What is your relationship to money? Did you even know that you have one? It’s true. Everyone does, whether we like it or not.
Your relationship to money is based on influences that vary from the external and situational, to the relational and personal. In order, to achieve a positive relationship to money, we need to be sure our knowledge comes together with our actions through the lens of our family vision.
And before we talk about what influences are that affect our relationship to money, we need to define aspects of influences. Influences are:
- Factors that cause us to view money and make decisions in a particular way
- Not inherently good or bad
- Unique blend for each person
Influences over your relationship to money
So what are influences over our approach to money (+ examples)?
- Cultural expectations – wearing the right clothes
- Messaging in the media – buying the right brands
- Current circumstances – inflation
- Pressure from peers – kids pressure to fit in with friends
- Religious or spiritual values or expectations – tithing
- Desired standard of living – seeking status through purchases
- Family relationships/dynamics – keeping up with siblings
- Tension between current and future needs – overpreparing for “what ifs”
- Needs vs wants/preferences – confusing a niceity for a need
To understand where your relationship with money stems from you need to ask yourself a few questions:
- What do you believe about the role of money in your life?
- What is your “ideal” way of handling money?
- How were you taught (or not taught) to view money growing up?
- What is your emotional state at the moment?
- What are your personal values?
- What are your personal priorities?
The Money Trap
Finally, you need to avoid key money traps. Since, there are many things that can get you trapped when it comes to money. Here are just a few to watch out for:
- Boredom
- Comfort
- Hopelessness
- Entitlement
- Physical Condition
- Addiction
- Feel Guilty
- Habits
- Insecurity
- Convenience
- Power and Control
- “It’s on Sale”
- Getting Back at Partner
By assessing where your views on money come from, what your priorities and values are, and how to identify money traps in your life, you can make steps towards a healthy relationship with money.
To learn more about your relationship to money and more great in-depth financial literacy education, check out our program which includes our re$tart course.
Already a Birch participant? Don’t forget that you can schedule a call with a financial counselor anytime! Just contact us and we will get you on the schedule.