Have you ever wondered what your spending habits say about your emotional patterns? Well, whether you realize it or not, your relationship with money says a whole lot about your relationship with life. For example, spending a bunch of money on expensive clothes indicates that you probably don’t have the best handle on your finances. But if you look a little closer at the ‘why’ behind the spending, you might find that you’re purchasing clothes to heal an emotional wound.
So whether you’re dealing with low self-confidence, the fear of failure, or whatever the case is for you, your money habits are a mirror of your emotional state of mind. So get a handle on your finances and life by performing an audit of your financial behavior, and here’s how you can:
Step one: Review and categorize your expenses. Log into your bank account, and take a hard look at your bank statements for the last six months. Then organize your expenses by type, such as entertainment, groceries, etc., to get a bird’s eye view of your spending habits.
Step two: Observe your expensive habits, and analyze what the patterns say about yourself. In this step of the process, you must remain open and curious. Ask yourself what situation led up to you making your purchase, and be mindful that the answer might not be 100% obvious.
For example, on the surface, it might seem like the only reason you have a high takeout expense is to “treat yourself.” But if you dig a little deeper, you might find that you tend to order takeout on stressful work days when you’re too tired to cook.
Step three: Take a look at what shocked you. Were there any line items that surprised you in terms of value or volume? If so, these are the areas that you should explore to see what behavioral patterns reveal themselves.
Final thoughts
Our money says more about us than we think. Hopefully, after you’ve performed this audit on your expenses, you’ve learned a thing or two about yourself. So, take what you’ve learned, and use this knowledge to address what needs to be addressed in your life, and get back in control of your finances!
