Everyone has their own money story. You know, the things you were taught growing up, knowingly or unknowingly, that affect the way you think about and act on money now.
LOTS of us were told “money doesn’t grow on trees” growing up. So, for me, I thought you get your job and that’s all the money you can make. The end. Do your best with it. When I started a side hustle in my mid 20’s and started consistently making more money than I thought was possible, my mind was blow. This is real?! I can make more and do more with it? It took me a while to shake that money myth, but I did.
There are many more intense and damaging money myths that can affect us in ways that we may not ever understand. You might have been told that you weren’t smart enough or worthy to deserve money or knowledge about money. Those kind of money myths can make a huge impact on your life.
Money myths are important to understand because they may prevent you from realizing and accomplishing life goals. Maybe you want to buy a house someday and you know you need to save up a down-payment. You’ve been saving here and there, but because of money myths that have affected how you feel about your ability to handle money well, you just can’t seem to save money like you want to. You self-sabotage yourself because deep down you feel like you don’t deserve the money or the house.
These are deep rooted misconceptions that we shouldn’t feel ashamed of. The best thing you can do for yourself is to be aware of the money myths that affect you and put in place an action plan to overcome them.
What does that look like? Understanding where those feelings come from is the first step. Maybe you had people in your life that taught you that because of who you are or where you came from, you don’t deserve money or the things you want. Firstly, that’s awful and untrue. Understand that those feelings have affected your money situation and the decisions you’ve made in the past, but do not have to continue to affect your decisions.
Next step, put a plan in place. For example, if you’re saving for a down-payment on a house and the issue you’re running into is that you keep taking money out of your savings account and don’t put it back in, make that more difficult for you to do. Keep a small emergency fund that you can get into ASAP, but put the rest in an account that you don’t have instant access to. Also, every time you think you need to dip into your savings, have a set of questions to ask yourself like: Do I really need this right now? What is my plan to put the money back? Can I set up an automatic savings transfer on a specific date to ensure that I put the money back?
The bright side of money myths? They can be conquered and YOU are in control of that.
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