Your money mindset greatly influences how you handle your finances and, ultimately, your future financial success and stability.
You may be wondering what the heck is a money mindset? Great question! A money mindset is the beliefs and attitudes we have about money.
Most of us don’t give too much thought to how we actually spend money. We just know we need or want something and then spend the money. Most times, leading us into debt and living paycheck to paycheck.
Honestly, I used to think debt and living paycheck to paycheck was normal. I thought being overwhelmed with debt was just part of adulting.
This scarsity mindset led me to frivolous buys and constant overspending, resulting in financial stress and strain on my marriage.
So, today we’re going to talk about small steps you can take to master your money mindset, build healthy new habits, and take control of your finances for good.
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Table of Contents
What is a toxic money mindset?
A toxic money mindset is a negative attitude about money that leads to bad money habits that keep you broke. Here are the top five negative money mindset quotes we tell ourselves that can be extremely harmful.
I work hard, and I deserve this.
We tend to tell ourselves it’s OK to spend money because we work hard for it. This may be true, but not at the expense of debt. This kind of entitled thinking leads to spending money you don’t have.
I’ll never be good with money.
Practice makes perfect. If you never put the effort in to learn how to manage your money, you’ll never be good at it. The more you budget, save, and question every purchase, the better you’ll get at managing your money.
I just need to make more money.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter how much more money you make. If you can’t handle your personal finances now, you won’t be able to manage them with a pay bump. When you’re not budgeting, and your spending is out of control, you just have more income to spend.
Everybody has debt
Spending money we don’t have has become the norm nowadays. But as the old saying goes, “if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” That saying always seemed silly to me, but when you put it in the context of debt, would you go into debt just because everyone else was doing it? It seems even sillier.
You can’t take it with you when you’re gone.
That’s true you can’t take it, but do you want to live the life you have stressed because you can’t manage your finances. You can enjoy your life without digging yourself deep into debt.
What is the right mindset for money?
Having the right money mindset will completely change how you handle your finances. It’s a healthy balance between saving and spending.
How do I master my money mindset?
Here are the five secrets to help you master your money mindset and change your financial future.
Secret #1: Find your focus!
You need to figure out your ultimate “why” for changing your money mindset. Decipher what negative self-talk is affecting your money mindset, why you’re telling yourself them, and why you want to change.
What toxic money thoughts do you have?
Figure out how you feel about money? Do any of the harmful thoughts above resonate with you? Do you feel like you’ll never get ahead or make enough money? Does the topic of money make you physically ill? List all your negative thoughts about money.
Why do you have these toxic money mindset thoughts?
Our money mindset is influenced mainly by what we learned growing up and our environment.
“Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger.”
Brené Brown
We may have learned how to manage our money from our parents, but our environment and emotional well-being ultimately trigger our spending.
So, figure out where your beliefs about money come from, so you can make a plan to change them.
Why do you want to change your toxic money mindset?
Next, you have to do some self-reflection. Why do you actually want to change your money mindset?
This may seem like a dumb question. But it’s something you have to ask yourself to change. This is probably the most important question because this “why” will keep you motivated to make better choices.
For example, my toxic money mindset, which led to overwhelming debt and terrible spending habits, affected my marriage, family life, and mental health. I wanted and needed to change my mindset and spending habits for the well-being of my family.
Secret #2: Manage your money!
Managing your money is necessary for developing a positive money mindset. To do this, you need to know your spending behaviors, create a monthly budget, and track your spending.
Look at your spending behavior
Start by reviewing 2-3 months of bank statements, and look at how you spend money. Then, break the spending into categories (housing, groceries, transportation, debt, saving, lifestyle, etc.) and total your spending in each category.
This was a huge eye-opener for us. We saw that we were just blowing our money on ridiculous stuff. Fast food was our definite pain point. You’ll probably be shocked at the unnecessary spending you’re doing too!
Start budgeting
Budgeting every month is crucial for a healthy money mindset. A zero-based budget will help you organize and plan where you want your money to go. By creating a monthly budget, you’ll be able to do more with your money, like pay off debt, save money, or spend on what makes you happy.
You can use pencil and paper, a spreadsheet, or an app like EveryDollar to help budget your money. Pick a style that works for you.
Track your spending
Tracking your spending is going to keep you accountable to your budget. Every purchase should be written down; this way, you know you are keeping within your budgeted spending.
Related:
How To Create A Zero-Based Budget To Simplify Your Finances
12 Reasons Why Budgets Fail And How To Fix It
How To Use EveryDollar App To Better Manage Your Money
12 Important Reasons And Benefits Of Tracking Your Expenses
Secret #3: Start saying NO!
You need to set boundaries for your money. And just like you would with any boundary, you have to start saying no. Because if you never say no, especially to things you can’t afford, you’ll never be able to change your money mindset.
Stop using credit
You have to say no to those credit cards. Get rid of that mentality that you need them for emergencies. You don’t need credit cards for emergencies; you need an emergency fund.
Did you know Americans spend approximately $120 billion in credit card interest and fees every year (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)? Banks are getting richer because we have become dependent on loans and credit cards to get us out of tight situations or buy things we can’t afford.
If you ever want financial stability, you have to say no to using credit cards!
Make a plan
Come up with a plan for how to pay off your debt. Prioritize your debt in the order you want to pay it off, and then start tackling those debts one by one.
Knowing how to budget and track your spending will be incredibly helpful.
Pay off debt
Put your plan into action. Find ways to spend less money and ways to increase your income.
- Cut cable
- Cook at home
- Cancel subscriptions
- Get a second job
- Sell your stuff
It’s not easy. Actually, it’s really freaking hard! But you can do it even if you’re broke. We did it on one income!
And trust me, with the work you put into paying off your debt, you’ll never want to go back into debt again!
Related:
Ultimate Guide For How To Get Sales On Poshmark In 2023
13 Best PayPal Reward Apps To Earn Cashback On Your Shopping
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How to Slay Your Debt Using the Debt Snowball
The Art of Meal Planning for Busy Moms (And Dads)
Secret #4: Learn to be content!
Contentment is being truly happy and satisfied with what you have. It’s an abundance mindset. If you never learn to find a sense of contentment, you’ll just continue to spend money to find it.
So how do you learn to be content? It can be challenging, but here are some things you can do to get started.
Be Grateful
Finding contentment starts with being grateful. Every day, you should count your blessings.
Some days it may seem like you don’t have much to be grateful for, but try to find at least one thing. Slowly you’ll see a positive difference in the way you think.
Some ways to track your gratitude are…
- On paper with a journal or notebook
- On your phone with an app (I love the 5 Minute Journal app)
- Through prayer or meditation
Embrace Minimalism
Embrace a more minimalist lifestyle. Minimalism is removing unwanted clutter, which can apply to many aspects of your life.
- Finances
- Things
- People
Take a Marie Kondo approach, and ask yourself does this bring me joy? If your answer is no, then thank it and send it on its way.
When you embrace a minimalist lifestyle, your wants become less, which means you buy and spend less. We have never been happier with our minimalist lifestyle.
To find out more about minimalism, here are some helpful resources.
Related:
Minimalism for Beginners: How to Simplify and Enjoy Your Life
How to Minimize Your Life and Maximize Your Happiness
Declutter your mind space
We get so caught up comparing ourselves and our lives to others; it’s exhausting! Social media can be so superficial and toxic.
Everything looks perfect in a split second it took to take a picture. But we don’t know what is happening in all the other seconds, minutes, and hours of their day.
So, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses because they’re probably secretly trying to keep up with someone else. Therefore, live within your means, learn to be content and thankful for what you have, and love people, not things.
Secret #5: Be generous!
I believe that if you put good out into the world, good things will come back to you. The act of generosity changes how you think about money because you’re serving and thinking of other people first.
“Live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else.”
Dave Ramsey
I love this quote by Dave Ramsey! This is why I love the Baby Steps so much because it’s about becoming financially independent and wealthy so that you can be outrageously generous.
You can still practice generosity even if you don’t have money to give. Here are some ideas.
- Volunteer your time with an organization
- Donate gently used items to those in need
- Donate your old towels, blankets, and sheets to an animal rescue (they need love too!)
- Help a neighbor in need with tasks around the house
- Visit a nursing home or assisted living facility, and spend time talking with the residents.
Related: Dave Ramsey’s 7 Life-Changing Financial Baby Steps
Conclusion
A toxic money mindset can be very harmful to your finances. It can lead to debt and living paycheck to paycheck, and in today’s world, it’s pretty easy to get caught up in this way of thinking. Thoughts like I work hard, so I deserve this or everybody has debt can leave you broke.
But you can change your way of thinking by
- Finding your focus
- Managing your money
- Saying no to debt
- Learning to be content
- Being generous
A healthy relationship with money will help you achieve financial freedom. When you master your money mindset, you can live the life of your dreams without financial stress.
Have you ever struggled with a toxic money mindset? Leave a comment below!
It’s good to learn how to manage your money. When I was in college, I took a money management class, and it helped me learn so much. It’s good to learn ways to make your money grow but also to get rid of toxic negative thinking.
Love the way you laid out all these tips! I am for sure going to try your 30 day money saving packet. Thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad you found them helpful!
Great article super helpful, thank you for sharing such a great information.
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it!
Managing money in a healthy & effective way can be so challenging! I know I’ve had my struggles. This post is crammed with excellent advice that I will surely follow! It all starts with the mindset. ❤ thank you for this awesome read!
Great post. I completely agree that a healthy money mindset is key to mastering our finances. I will definitely be using some of these tips on my road to financial freedom. Thanks for sharing!
Loved the post. I learned long ago to not accumulate so much credit. I never liked the idea of owing people money, so I live within my means.
Thank you! I feel the same about owing people, it sucks!
Great tips! If you don’t take control of your money, it will cloud everything else in your life.
100% percent! Glad you liked it!
I need to start facing my money mindset. Toxic money thoughts! Wow that’s a big topic. I will be retreating to my journal… thanks for writing this x
It’s definitely not something we think about often, but it impacts are finances big time. Glad you found it thought provoking.
I love how you shared these tips. It can be hard not to compare ourselves to others and wish we had what they have. What we don’t know is how much debt they’re in. It’s important to be thankful for what we do have and live within our means. It’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way. Thank you for sharing these tips!
Glad you found them helpful. I learned the hard way too! But, I’m thankful I learned to change my mindset because my finances are better for it.
Such a thorough post about money mindset awareness. I am currently on my debt free journey so this is definitely helpful.
I am so glad you found it helpful! Good luck with your debt-free journey!
Love the part about if you think you need more money, you still won’t be able to finances with a pay bump! Budgeting is key. Also having no debt brings about a peace of mind that’s absolutely amazing!
I have been working on this myself for a while. Tracking my spending has helped but also letting go of scarcity thinking for me. Thanks for the great tips.