Do You Have a Toxic Relationship With Money? 6 Ways to Tell

Having a toxic relationship with money can cause you to struggle more than you have too. Most of us develop their attitude toward money earlier in life, you may not even realize the destructive thoughts and feelings you have toward money. The sooner you can identify trouble in your financial relationship, the sooner you can work toward having a healthier attitude towards money and begin to repair your finances.

You’re always broke.

Sometimes you may genuinely not have enough money to pay all your expenses. It’s one thing you’re living on a barebones budget and you barely make enough money to pay all your bills. It’s another when you’re constantly broke because you overspend and you’re not trying to control what you spend each month. Or if you refuse to do anything to make more money or cut your expenses.

You think money doesn’t matter.

Of course, money isn’t everything. You should never make money the center of your life or the driving before behind how you live your life. In a healthy financial relationship, you understand that money is simply a currency - a medium of exchange. You receive money for what you provide to others. And give it to others for what they can provide you. It matters because it’s necessary for life’s basics.

You diss people who have money.

It’s one thing to hate a system that supports unequal pay between genders or races. It’s another thing to hate on people who have money simply because they have it. Whether they worked hard or they inherited from someone else’s hard work, it makes no difference for you. Repairing your relationship with money means acknowledging where you are in life and drawing motivation and inspiration from people you look up to.

You think winning the lottery (or getting some other large sum of money) will solve your problems.

You’d be surprised to find out just how many lottery winners end up going broke. Or how many people who’ve inherited a fortune end up squandering it before they can pass it down to the next generation. Lots of people think they wouldn’t end up in that situation, but as soon as they get a little extra change, they blow it. Getting a lot of money won’t change your life if you don’t have the foundation in place to properly handle money. The same way you blow a $5,000 tax refund, is the same way you’d blow a $5 million lottery winning.

You don’t make any plans for your money.

You should tell your money where it’s going, not the other way around. Having a frivolous attitude toward money prevents you from making serious plans about your financial future. You may spend more than you should and end up saving less than you should. It’s important to set both short- and long-term goals for your money, then put a plan in place to make sure you’re going to meet them.

You’re scared at the thought of making more money.

You can get stuck in a cycle of struggling because it’s what you’re comfortable doing. Despite the fact that it’s scary and painful at times, if this is how you’ve always lived your life, struggle is simply what you’re familiar with. And human nature causes us to seek out the unfamiliar. Making more money isn’t a bad thing, but can be terrifying if you’ve never made a lot of money before. You might fear something bad will happen to you. Or that people will look at you differently. Having more money can provide you with security for months and years to come, if you’re responsible with the money you earn. And long-term security is the true comfort in life.