By Shonda Lackey, Ph.D.
Have you ever thought that money would solve all of your problems? Or that it would make you happier? Do you refuse to buy something unless you can pay for it in cash? Or, do you overspend in an attempt to appear that you have more than you actually do? Answering these questions can help you identify common beliefs about money that could be related to how you manage money. Beliefs about money, or money scripts, are unconscious beliefs that developed during childhood and have a negative impact on financial behaviors. The Klontz Money Script Inventory lists four major types of money scripts:
Money Avoidance: Money is bad. I don’t deserve money.
Money Worship: Money can buy happiness. Money will solve all my problems.
Money Status: My self-worth equals my net worth.
Money Vigilance: Money can be taken away.
Financial therapy can help you identify harmful money scripts so that you can learn to engage in more adaptive behaviors. Financial therapy examines the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational, and economic aspects of financial health. Although your money scripts may have developed in childhood, you can decide what you want to do about them now. From an REBT perspective you may consider if your money beliefs are related to evaluations about yourself, others, or the world, demands, awfulizing, or low frustration tolerance. The first step towards financial health is recognizing what beliefs drive your financial behaviors.