BY RACHEL GRIFFITHS
Monochrome about money
Our attitudes towards money are far from black or white. Understanding our own psychology and behaviours brings a new awareness that can increase our wellbeing, reduce stress and reveal a spectrum of colour to our lives. When we think about our money, it is perhaps easier to revert to stereotypes. We are either cavalier or conscientious. Are we a cavalier individual, who lives in the present and is carefree, often only seeing a green light when it comes to spending and being easily tempted into spending too much? For the cavalier, there is no pain in purchasing, just pleasure as they see buying to be fun. To them there is a relationship between being a spendthrift and boredom. Or are we conscientious? Proud to the point of being frugal with our spending. The pleasure is going to great lengths to build large savings pots, long-term investments and having empty credit cards. There is a pain to spending and besides, the status of being careful with money is a rational advantage, isn’t it? The immediate temptation when asked about our attitudes to our wealth is to slot ourselves, with ease, into either the category of ‘spender’ or ‘saver’.
We are only human after all and there is comfort, ease and certainty in attaching ourselves to a label. The truth is that either label is not only unhelpful, it can also be personally limiting. Between the black and white choice of either spender or saver, cavalier or conscientious, there is not just a whole range of grey but the opportunity to open up to a world of colour. When we begin to understand our thinking around spending and saving, we can reduce our stress, increase our buying power and improve our levels of financial security. What is more, it can help us make wiser decisions. So, perhaps it is time to move out of our monochrome thinking to rewire our thoughts towards our wealth.
Imagine what could change The ‘conscientious’ can be free from the pain they experience in spending and allow themselves to begin to enjoy their money. The ‘cavalier’ who gets a thrill from the here and now can realise the value of saving and investing, knowing that their spending can be sustained in the future.
Paint your psychological picture The link between psychology and financial behaviours is a powerful one and is evidenced by years of research. In 1930, Keynes predicted that as more people became wealthy and had more disposable income, they would save more to protect against unforeseen circumstances, or to sustain or enhance a standard of living. This didn’t happen. Savings did not increase so social and psychological attitudes towards money had to be brought into consideration. We begin to consider our culture, the care we receive when we are young, and our chemistry.
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