In March we look at money and money stories, the importance of understanding your personalities and habits, and how they contribute to your money story.

Your relationship with money can typically be categorised into money personalities, these personalities make up part of your money story. It’s important to recognise and acknowledge where you are within these personalities as they have a big impact on your money habits, stability, and financial future.

Often your money personalities can have external factors that have shaped your behaviour. These external factors could stem from your childhood money influences and how money was handled in your household.
Joyce Marter LCPC, a psychotherapist wrote a brilliant article last year for Psychology Today that explores this exact topic and the money habits that develop as a result of childhood factors specifically. The article also gives some brilliant pointers about how to change the course of your money story.

As we delve into the five money personalities you may find that you resonate with more than one, this could be based on emotional triggers or reactions. This is a great chance to identify yourself within these personalities, and any triggers that change your behaviour towards money. They are a part of understanding your money story; crucial for hitting your money goals and your financial future.

Here are the five money personalities:

You can see that the personalities are summed up by their typical money behaviours. If we look at the ‘Shoppers’ we can assume that they spend a lot of money, for different reasons to a ‘Big Spender.’

Each personality gets satisfaction from their money habits, therefore it’s a default, habitual behaviour. The Saver likely has a budget they adhere to, they move their money into savings on payday and they get satisfaction from seeing their savings grow.

The Big Spender gets satisfaction from having the latest gadgets, branded or designer items, this almost feels like they are displaying their money.

Typically, these five personalities have been the most widely recognised, recently however Money254 has expanded the personalities to seven, with a slightly different take on the existing five. The two noticeable additions are:

The Gambler – Money254 believes this personality shares some traits with the money makers and spenders. This is because there is a strong emotional connection how they feel when spending money. The Gambler finds a thrill in the potential of a big reward to their risk.

The Compulsive Money Maker – Individuals that sit within this personality typically root their happiness in money and their financial success. Therefore, they believe they must work harder and harder to earn more and more money.

Understanding your money personality is the first step to improving your financial health. While these habits are usually engrained, you absolutely can make improvements to better serve your financial outlook. If you recognise yourself in these personalities, now is a great time to take a moment to see how it is impacting your financial future. Not only to understand, but to put yourself back in control of your finical future and to remain in control without absorbing external factors.

You hear it often in variations, but that’s because its true;
“If you can’t budget £1000, you can’t budget £100,000.”

Money Stories:

If you have a financial goal, then you need to be taking the steps to work towards it. Often people think this means to work harder and harder, which isn’t always the case. This mindset of the only way that you can hit your goal is to work more, can impact on your well-being, leaving you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. This too is part of understanding your money story and it impacts on your financial behaviours.

The flip side of your money story is if you are someone who has accessed wealth, by that I mean it wasn’t in your background, you can often feel guilty for obtaining it. Maybe you always thought wealthy people weren’t good people, and now you are struggling with the concept of having money and being a good person too. Often you hear of friendship groups with varying levels of earners, typically the high earner feels a level of shame around their financial success, while those deemed to be ‘less’ financially successful struggle with feelings of inadequacy, even though their happiness is truly rooted elsewhere.

These are all just money stories, they are unique to you, but they are just that, stories. We have attributes that genuinely make up our story, and we have the things we tell ourselves; our mindset that isn’t always a true reflection of our situation. Uncovering your feelings, personalities and habits around your money story helps you to make changes that better serve you now and in the future.

If you are business owner, it can perhaps feel like you have two money stories. Usually, a business owner has personal and professional financial goals, the way you approach these can be the same process; insight, understanding and action.
Good money habits in business provide a solid financial foundation, not just for stability of your business but for the freedom to facilitate your long-term plans and growth.

If you’re looking to understand more about your money story and make positive changes for your financial future get in touch today.