Understanding how money scripts influence your spending and saving behavior can be the key to unlocking financial wellness.
Money scripts are beliefs or attitudes about money that subconsciously affect the way we make financial decisions. Brad Klontz, Psy.D, a financial psychologist and instructor in new online course Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure, identified four main money scripts that Americans tend to have:
- Money avoidance, when people see money in a negative light, like thinking that being rich makes you greedy. Money avoiders may be hesitant to ask for a raise, even if they deserve it, because they’re afraid of appearing greedy or materialistic.
- Money worship, when people think money can literally buy happiness and therefore keep buying things hoping it will improve their wellbeing. Klontz says many Americans demonstrate this belief through overconsumption that leads to overspending and credit card debt.
- Money status, when people flaunt their wealth and value others based on how wealthy they seem. Similar to money worship, money status-seeking is all about “keeping up with the Joneses” and stretching your money thin to have the same or better than what your peers have.
- Money vigilance, when people are cautious about spending and diligent about saving and investing, keeping future uncertainty in mind. This belief is associated with financial wellness, Klontz says, because a “healthy dose” of financial anxiety can help you keep you stay on track to meet your money goals. “You have to have a future orientation or you will never do what it takes today to make sacrifices towards a goal,” he says.
Identifying which category you tend to fall into is the first step to helping you address problem areas in your finances, such as overspending or anxious oversaving. But it can be difficult to totally rid yourself of your personal money beliefs.
“As children, we’re left to try to make sense of the world, and so we develop these beliefs around money based on experiences we’ve had,” Klontz tells CNBC Make It. “These beliefs are like water to a fish, where it’s just your sense of reality.”
Once you understand what your money scripts are and how they manifest, you can take steps to rescript if necessary. Here’s how.
Know when you need to reexamine
It’s easy to look at the money script patterns and think one is worse than another, but that’s a misconception, Klontz says. “The beliefs, in and of themselves, are neutral. It just depends on the results you’re getting in your life,” he says.
But “if you’re financially stressed or you have too much debt, that’s when you need to start [telling] yourself, ‘I should examine my money scripts,'” Klontz says.
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“Any financial behavior — as crazy as it looks or self destructive — makes perfect sense, if you understand the money scripts,” Klontz says.
That means not beating yourself up for racking up credit card debt on mindless splurges, for example. Instead, it’s about acknowledging your “money worshiper” script and realizing you’re looking for material items to bring you joy.
To rescript that, next time you have the urge to buy something you don’t need, take some time to consider whether it will actually make you happy after the dopamine rush of a purchase wears off.
It’s OK for money worshippers to occasionally buy things on a whim as long as they keep in mind that life satisfaction and happiness will probably come from other factors like relationships, experiences and their career.
Recognize when your context has changed
Part of the reason money scripts can be so difficult to shake is that they often come from your lived experiences and emotions, Klontz says. Money vigilance, for instance, may be rooted in an upbringing where money was scarce.
If your situation has changed and you’re doing fine financially, but you still avoid spending out of fear of going broke, it may be time to rescript.
“When the context changes and our [money] beliefs don’t change, that’s when it becomes dysfunctional,” Klontz says.
Instead of telling yourself, “I can’t spend any money because I’m afraid of having none,” try reminding yourself that yes, layoffs or other emergencies can be costly. But preventative measures, like contributing to an emergency fund, can help shield your finances from disaster if you encounter unexpected expenses.
Be open to challenging your beliefs
Another reason many adults hold onto financial attitudes from childhood is that their money beliefs have never been challenged, Klontz says.
While your beliefs around relationships or politics might evolve as you interact with and observe people around you, “it’s really hard to do that around money, because nobody really talks about money,” he says.
Talking to your peers about money is a great way to check in and identify which of your behaviors and beliefs are typical and which may skew to the extreme.
For example, talking to your friends about their salaries can help challenge your money avoidance beliefs. You probably don’t think your friend is greedy just because they make more money than you. There are other benefits, too: Learning that your friend has a higher salary may help you gauge if you’re being paid fairly or aspire to a bigger paycheck.
You can’t control the money scripts you naturally fall into. But knowing when you need to rescript can help you curb bad financial habits and get smarter with your money.
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