As part of Money Smart Week 2022, we attended Blackbullion’s ‘Money On My Mind - The Psychology of Money’ webinar. This hugely informative session broke down the 5 different ‘Money Personalities’ and how these affect the decisions we make with our finances. 

Attendees were challenged with one powerful question; ‘If your bank card could speak, what would it say about you?’

Take a moment to think about it. What do your spending habits say about you, and how did these habits come to be in the first place? 

Here’s what we learned;

What influences your Money Personality?

Your Money Personality is influenced by many external factors such as your childhood, environment, friends, family, and your lifelong exposure to financial matters. 

What does your Money Personality influence?

  • Your relationship with and how you feel about money.
  • Your spending habits and how you manage money.
  • How you interact with others when it comes to finances.

The importance of Money Personalities

  • Understanding where you fit is the first step to fostering a more positive relationship with money.
  • Most of us have a mix of several personalities.  
  • None of the personalities are inherently bad. Each has its own pros and cons. 

The 5 Money Personalities

The Saver

These are the frugal spenders. The Saver's carefully assess the value of a purchase before committing. They love a good deal and take great pride in how much money they are able to save by being savvy with their purchases. 

Strength 

  • The ability to spot a good deal. 
  • Already has the habit of saving money which will serve them well in investing and building wealth in the future. 

Weakness

  • Could potentially miss out on ‘living’ and enjoying moments in life because they are too focused on saving money.      
  • Could compromise on quality by purchasing a cheaper option and then having to repurchase it once it breaks.      
  • Purchasing things they do not really need for the sake of a good deal.

Financial Tip – Don’t just save for the sake of saving. Spending less on something you don't really need will not help you in the long run. Instead, learn to rather invest your money so that it grows or save with specific financial goals in mind.

 

The Spender

Money comes and money goes. They live in the present moment and believe that life is for living and money is for spending. They enjoy spending money on themselves and others. They seek instant gratification and are all about the 'here' and 'now'. 

Strength

  • Spending money on things that add meaning or joy to life is a positive that could lead to a more fulfilling life.  

Weakness

  • These people can often be short sighted in creating financial security which can often come back to hurt them in the future.

Financial Tip - Work your budget backwards. First, ensure that you cover all of your debt and expenses, and be sure to set some money aside for the future. Once you’ve done this, you will know exactly how much you have left over to spend today on the things and experiences that make you happy.

 

The Security Seeker

The planners. These people are extremely cautious with their money. They believe in putting in the time to plan and research, and will ensure that they have all of their bases covered before making a decision. 

Strength

  • Not rushing in can lead to better, more thought-out decision making. 
  • This approach ensures that money is not wasted, especially with larger purchases.

Weakness

  • The time spent making deliberating, researching and stressing over each financial decision could be spent on more meaningful and fulfilling things.
  • The opportunities being debated could pass you by while you wait. For example, a good deal might expire while you spend time deliberating if it's good enough. 

Financial Tip - Go into the decision-making process with a specific goal in mind and ensure that you create a timeline to make a decision. 

 

The Risk Taker

These people are bold and brash. They are prepared to take calculated risks and believe in waiting for a big pay off. This would include those entrepreneurs and crypto investors. 

Strength

  • Taking large risks can often lead to big leaps in life. 

Weakness

  • Risks that don’t payoff can often be extremely costly.
  • Greed can become a motivator, and this could leave you vulnerable to scams and bad investments.

Financial Tip - Learn from The Security Seekers. Slow down the decision-making process and consider all of the risks involved before jumping in. 

 

The Flyer

Flyers are largly unconcerned about finances. They believe that money will take care of itself and do not make an active effort to manage their finances. They live by the phrase; ‘spend it and it will come back’.

Strength

  • This requires an inherent sense of faith and belief, which can be a positive trait. 
  • This approach could lead to a meaningful, fulfilling life in other aspects away from finances. 
  • The stress that comes with financial planning can be largely mitigated.  

Weakness

  • A lack of financial responsibility and planning that could come back and hurt you in the future.
  • People will often only realise this when it is too late. 

Financial Tip - Start with thinking about what you value and how money would play a role in achieving that. Separate the objective from the finances. From there, you will gain motivation in saving the money needed to achieve these goals. 

Blackbullion is an online learning platform that helps to develop financial confidence and empower better decision making. 

Need some extra motivation to get your finances in order? Be sure to read our 6 Reasons Why You Need To Budget blog.