How to tell if you have a negative money mindset
Having a bad mindset towards money can seriously affect how you handle your finances. A negative attitude will keep you stuck and in the same position. Your MONEY MINDSET will hold you back.
We all know that the first step in solving any problem is to recognise that there is one in the first place.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to solve a problem if you do not know you have one, or by pretending there isn’t one. So first things first, much like what happens at an AA meeting, you must admit there is a problem.
Then you can explore what the causes are and how to fix it…
Having a poor mindset is really common for a number of reasons, so do not feel ashamed if you feel like you have this problem.
The more we all talk openly about money, the easier it will be to change our thoughts around it.
How to tell if you have a bad money mindset?
Time to get honest with yourself!
Sit down, get a pen and paper and assess all the thoughts you have around money.
Ask yourself the below questions and write down all the things you feel and say to yourself.
How do I feel/what thoughts do I have when you spend my money on big purchases? (what do you class as a ‘big purchase’ – this is very personal to you)
Do I struggle to talk to people about my financial situation? (how do you feel if people ask you how much you make, if you can afford something etc.)
How do I feel other people talk to me about their financial situation? (uncomfortable, open, interested, jealous?)
Do I set financial goals and struggle to meet them? (do you set targets but then never put money aside/always dip back into it – why do you think that is?)
How do I feel about budgeting? (have you ever budgeted before? If you have, did you stick to it/do you still budget now? how do you feel when you budget?)
Next to each thought or feeling, mark down your answer as either negative or positive. Is it something that empowers you or makes you feel stuck? Is the feeling one you r are proud or ashamed of?
Are most of your answers positive or negative?
Next take a look over the different categories. Here are some potential ways you could be thinking negatively about money and causing yourself to stay in a fixed mindset. These thoughts might even be subconscious!
Do you have any of these thoughts?
Day before pay day
Super excited to get paid but only because last month you spent most of your money within the first week and have been struggling to live off of the leftovers for the past 3 weeks
The day you get paid
You haven’t budgeted, you straight away ‘treat yourself’ to something super expensive because you feel you deserve it after making it through the past few weeks/days and then you think about the bills after
Your financial situation
You think you are doomed or cursed, you say thing like “Oh I am just not good with money, I never have been, I have a money curse”, or always saying “ugh I am just so poor right now, I have no money”
Your ability to budget
Convinced that budgeting ‘doesn’t work for you’ because you just cannot stick to the budgets you have set yourself, or you haven’t even tried to budget
Spending your money
Feeling super guilty that you have spent too much, or didn’t deserve the thing you spent your money on, or that you didn’t ‘earn’ that purchase
Saving money
You don’t understand the point of saving when you could spend it instead, or you are convinced you aren’t good at saving because you always dip back into your savings
Spending on your credit card
You use a credit card (because you don’t physically have the money available in your current account) but you tell yourself you ‘deserve the purchase’ even tough you can’t technically afford it
Future plans
You are just winging it, figuring it out as you go along, living paycheck to paycheck and you tell yourself that you will ‘figure it out’ further down the line when you are older or earn more money.
If you do find yourself agreeing with one or more of these statements above, then you may have a negative mindset towards money.
You might not be ready to change. You might be in denial if you have any of the above thoughts. You might think that there must be people worse than you (and there absolutely will be). You might want to stay in the negative cycle of thoughts because you don’t mind not having loads of money.
No one can make you change your thoughts.
When you are ready to make a change, you need to learn how to undo bad thought patterns and replace them with new formed habits
Read my blog on How to change your negative money mindset
Then be prepared to watch your financial situation change for the better!!!
Laura xx
