Psychological barriers & money management

There is a continuum of comfort when it comes to personal finances. Everyone falls somewhere on it. Are you closer to the “screwed” side or the “flourishing” side? No matter where you place yourself on the scale we all experience fear, frustration, and some form of anxiety about money.

I’ve been up and down the continuum several times. How many minutes, hours, even days, have I spent stressing about my finances? Overdrawn accounts — how to replenish them. Spent beyond my budget — how to catch up. Lost my job — how to survive.

This is the part that amazes me. I continued to have financial problems, no matter what my account balance. Then I realized a healthy relationship with your finances isn’t related to the amount of money you have. There is a psychological side opposite the practical side of money management. They’re linked. In fact, successful money management can eliminate many psychological barriers.

Here’s an example. Did your family talk openly about their finances? Mine did not. I definitely was not taught the basics about money. For the longest time, I didn’t know how to balance my checking account. My balance was like a magical number that just kept changing. I knew there had to be a way to figure it out, but kept thinking it was too difficult and too complex. On a whim one day, I decided to read the information preprinted on the back of my checking account statement. There was a formula, clear and simple. Wow! So, that’s how to balance a checking account. And the information I needed to eliminate one psychological barrier was right there. I taught myself and the confidence I gained pushed me towards other challenges.

I am amazed that I am an accountant and tax professional. Wasn’t it just yesterday I graduated college with looming debts? As you’ll learn in my articles, I’ve pieced it together along the way. In spite of my past blunders and mishaps with money, I’m thriving. I no longer avoid the reality of my finances.