Do you think you are telling yourself the truth about money? We may think that we know our financial situation. But our beliefs tend to cover up the facts.
Our wishes, hopes and fears will make the balance deviate from the truth. This makes it easier for us to believe our views on money-it may happen without our realizing it.
The "money lies" we tell ourselves can change our financial thinking and behavior. And because most of us seldom talk about money with friends and family, we tell ourselves to stick to it. This will plunge us into destructive beliefs and strengthen bad financial habits.
But no matter how many lies we tell ourselves, it is never too late to clarify the record. Let's take a look at some of the most common money lies we all believe and the truth behind them.
1. When I have $ _ _ _ _, I will be happier.
"With _ _ _ dollars in the bank (no matter how much you think is ideal), many of my problems will be solved and I will be happier."
Does this sound familiar?
The objectives and indicators of income, savings and budget are all good. However, if you mistakenly think that a magic number will turn on the switch of happiness for you, please think again.
When we tell ourselves this money lie, we put too much emotion into a number. We may let ourselves down-if we never get $ _ _, if we get $ _ _ and realize that it doesn't make us as happy as we thought.
Good news? Research shows that whether we achieve our goals or not, it will be very satisfying to move towards them.
I deserve it, whether I can't afford it or not.
"I work very hard and I don't often reward myself."
"I can die tomorrow."
"I have gained a lot!"
These are just some of the reasons we use to convince ourselves that it is okay to buy things.
No matter what the money is supported by, it is usually used to alleviate the pain of expensive purchases-those are not really necessary-maybe we know that deep down, we don't really need things.
I have strong economic strength.
In the face of temptation, most of us will lie to ourselves that we are good at resisting temptation. But when was the last time you chose not to buy what you really wanted? When was the last time you went shopping on impulse?
On average, Americans spend at least several hundred dollars on impulse shopping every month.
When we are under pressure, we are more likely to impulse shopping and spend more money. This may be the reason why impulse consumption soared by about 18% in 20021year.
In addition, we may have more people shopping with credit cards than we realize. Credit card shoppers spend more than cash on average 10%. If the balance is not paid in full, the interest cost is not even calculated.
I will save more in the future.
Most people focus on buying what we need and want now, and we tell ourselves that we will start saving for the future. If we keep anything, it may be all we have left. In fact, less than one-sixth of us spend more than 15% of our income on savings, and one-fifth of us don't save money.
Whatever the reason, when we tell ourselves that money is a lie and postpone saving, we give priority to the present rather than the future.
This may catch up with our "rainy days" or whenever we start to seriously consider retirement. By that time, there may be a lot of hard work to "catch up" with our savings-or it may even be too late.
I have enough time to plan my financial future (I don't need to consider it yet).
When we look forward to 10, 20 years or even longer, the future seems really far away. When we feel that there is a lot of space between now and then, it is easy to find excuses not to plan and not to save.
This money lie is an excuse for procrastination. This is the basic principle we use when it is difficult to manage our negative emotions or uncertainty about financial futures. This makes us turn a blind eye to the interest lost in those years when there is no plan.
When Benjamin Franklin wisely said, "If you are not ready, you are ready to fail", he probably told the truth behind the money lie best.
6. There are good and bad.
We tend to give moral value to debt, and regard mortgage and student loans as "good" debts, while credit card debts as "bad" debts.
This money lie gives us a wrong view of debt. All debts will bring some costs, and it is very important to know what impact each loan has on ourselves now and in the future.
Instead of focusing on whether the debt is "good" or "bad", it is better to focus on the total interest cost over a period of time (usually higher than you think) and decide whether the loan really helps you achieve your goal.
About half of the people seem to have this idea. They say we hope to pay off our debts within one to five years.
7. It's not good to want more.
Although I think we all agree that compulsive greed is wrong, it is not a bad thing to want more from you and your loved ones.
When we tell ourselves that we should not want more than what we have, we agree to accept less. We may deceive ourselves that we can improve our financial situation by not doing something (or not doing enough).
This kind of money lies hinder us and make it difficult for us to improve our financial management behavior.
When we want more as positive motivation, it is easier to seize the opportunity or complete the work needed to reach the next financial level we may want.
How to stop lying about losing expensive money
How many of these money lies sound like you told yourself?
At some point, I think we all use at least one of them to deceive ourselves. Maybe we are rationalizing a decision, or we are trying to make ourselves feel better about what we want to do with money. Therefore, we may not make the best financial choices.
It's true: honesty is of great help to finance.
What we say to ourselves and what we think about money will affect our financial management behavior. If we don't tell ourselves the truth, our money lies will not only drain our wallets. They will affect our financial awareness and enhance our confidence. They hinder the maintenance or growth of wealth.
When we realize the money lies we believe, we can rethink, change our way of thinking and take action. This enables us to make better choices and make more progress towards our main financial goals.