I don’t like the term being ‘good’ with money.
It’s full of judgment. It implies that being good with money makes you better than people who are bad with money.
It’s also part of the broader moral landscape that tends to see economic hardship as a result of bad choices rather than wider economic conditions and limited options.
It has a narrow focus on spending, but that’s only one part of your relationship with money. And many people I know have an income problem, not a spending problem.
And it ignores the fact that most money behaviour is subconscious. People don’t deliberately choose to make bad financial decisions.
We also don’t choose the emotions that come up when we think of money. Guilt, shame, regret, avoidance. While it is not technically an emotion, nobody chooses to be anxious either.
Money behaviour is a broad topic and when I work with clients I break money down into three areas:
Money Acquisition
Money Use
Money Management
This helps us to focus on the area that is most challenging.
Acquisition is about how you get money into your life. When you think about this area are you:
Avoidant – I don’t want to talk about it, think about it or even ask for it.
Or are you:
Insatiable – there is never enough. I can always do with more.
Or maybe you’re somewhere in the middle. That’s the secure area.
Money Use is about what you do with it. At one end of the behavioural scale is Miser and at the other end is Compulsive Overspender.
Money Management is about managing your finances. Are you a Micromanager, are you Chaotic, or somewhere in the middle.
Or maybe you have a mix. You swing from Miser to Overspender and back, depending on what’s going on. And sometimes you’re organised, and at other times everything feels out of control. This not unusual. We have varying feelings about most things.
Don’t worry about being ‘good’ with money and don’t judge yourself. Start by becoming aware of what’s going on and which part is most difficult for you.
If you find this breakdown helpful and would like to have a chat about an area that is challenging, please use the button below to book a free money chat.