The Story You Tell Yourself About Money

Imagine a woman who's so thrifty that she uses folding chairs for furniture and never goes out to eat. She has more than $1 million in the bank. Now imagine a man with 2 PhDs and a thriving career. He cannot help but rack up credit card debt. Every time he builds a bit of financial cushion, he finds a way to spend it. Financial psychologist Brad Klontz at Creighton University studies the patterns behind these stories. He says that most of our financial behavior is shaped by what he calls money scripts. Unconscious beliefs about money, often formed in childhood, that quietly steer our choices. Brad has identified 4 common money scripts. There's money avoidance, where you have anxiety or negative associations surrounding money. There's money worship, the belief that money can fix everything. There's money status, which is the belief that net worth equals self-worth. And finally, there's money vigilance, the belief that you must be cautious with your spending. Each of us tends to follow one or more of these scripts, often without knowing why we are doing so. The good news is that once you notice these scripts, you can pay attention to how they're shaping your financial choices. You can ask whether they're serving you well or if it's time to write a different money script. For more insights about the science of the mind, tune into Hidden Brain on Apple, Spotify, or hiddenbrain.org.