Tell me if any of this seems familiar. You’re at home. Sitting on the couch. Boredom sets in. Then you catch yourself thinking: “I’m bored, I should go shopping”. So you jump into the car, or open up Amazon, and begin a quest to lift your boredom. So you go out searching for something new, or new to you (if you are more of the frugal variety). Eventually, you find something. Buy it. Then return back home. Only to find that you are bored again a day or two later?
You aren’t alone.
This is pretty common nowadays. We turn to spending as a way to feel better. This is just one of several money obstacles that can trip you up on the road to becoming better with your money.
I call them money obstacles, because until we get around these issues we are never going to reach our full financial potential.
Here are 5 Obstacles You Need to Overcome to Be Better With MoneyObstacle 1: Spending Money As A Way To Relieve Boredom.
I struggle with this one all the time. Ever since I was in grade 8 (best 3 years of my life!) and onwards we would jump on the bus and go to the mall to hang out and buy the newest tape errr… CD. Spending money was just a part of the enjoyment.
Nowadays I’m all grown up and wear the Big-boy pants in the family… but… at least a few times a week, when I get bored my first thought is “Let’s go to the store!”.
Luckily I also have crushing guilt from buying things, so I window shop a lot now. Still.. spending money to get over my boredom is something that needs to be worked on.
Obstacle 2: Using Tomorrow’s Money to Buy Things Today.
Here’s the deal that no one wants tell you.
Every time you use debt to buy something, you are robbing your “future-self” of that money and more. You never really want to think of it that way, but it’s the hard truth.
That is future money you are using.
Money that you are eventually going to have to work for (and then some because there is interest), to pay for something you probably no longer use at the time. You need to quit future-financing your life.
Or put another way:
Borrowing from your future, to pay for today, to impress people today that you probably won’t speak to in the future.
Make sense? No. Good!
You’re on the right path.
Obstacle 3: Using Money As A Way To Fit In.
I’m so guilty of this that I almost didn’t add it in here. Because I’m an adult and I still fall victim to this.
We all work really hard for our money and it seems only fair that you get to celebrate that hard work. When people get together it can be hard to not conform. I don’t even want to call it social pressure because the other people aren’t pressuring me it’s an internal thing.
If everyone is buying steak, and you get an appetizer or soup, do you feel cheap?
When everyone else is driving the nicest new car and you are driving an old beater do you feel a little embarrassed?
It’s easier to spend and feel like you fit in.
It is hard to feel like the left out one.
But it’s ok, you are here for the long term and if you start cutting back a bit it won’t be bad. Your friends will still like you.
What if they don’t? Well, I think we both know they weren’t really your friends. They were spending buddies.
There’s a big ol’ world of difference between those two groups of people.
Obstacle 4: Using Money To Fill A Void.
No need to go too deep on this one, but if you are buying things to feel better and a day or two later you feel crummy again… there is probably something else going on.
Figure out what that is, you will be waaaayyyy better off in the long run if you can fix whatever emotional issue is causing you to spend.
For me, I used to spend on little things as a way of treating myself. Then the treating myself to little things graduated to bigger things. Much bigger things. Eventually, it caught up to me and things had to change.
The truth is that I was rewarding myself with stuff because I thought I needed it to be happy. Now I know that it’s not the case at all.
Do a little soul searching. Ask yourself why. Dig deep, it’s ok it’s just between you and well.. you !
Obstacle 5: Giving In To Every Passing Desire.
THIS ONE IS SOOOO HARD!!!!! Because the desires never stop. They are always coming at you. Commercials, media, internet, there is so much out there designed for you to want things NOW!!!!
It used to be (and I realize I’m dating myself here… again), that if you wanted something you had to go out of the house to get it.
That was a huge barrier. You had to leave the house and go somewhere!
It meant getting in a car/bus/bike/horse/dinosaur and going down to the store and picking out something. Then that something you wanted actually had to be in stock! Crazy times they were (as Yoda would say).
Crazy, crazy times!
These are things that we all wrestle with. You aren’t alone. But if you want to become a superstar with money these are some of the obstacles you are going to face. I’m facing a lot them right now.
Here are some ways to overcome your obstacles:
- Go on a hiatus from online shopping. Its a lot hard to buy stuff when you have to leave the house. Try a shopping ban. Cait from Blonde on a Budget can get you started with that.
- Stop buying what you think you need to impress everyone else. They stop being impressed by that item pretty much right after you show them your new “thing”.
- Be true to yourself when you are with friends. If you are with them, they like you for who you are, not for how much you spend. Fill your life with things people that matter, and be honest with yourself.
- Stop using tomorrow’s money to pay for today. Your future self will thank you for it.
Read the full article at: familymoneyplan.com
Are these obstacles standing in your way to #financialfreedom? #moneysmart #personalfinance #familybankgame
