How well do you know your money habits? Sometimes, we tend to either inflate or underestimate our knowledge of our habits for a variety of reasons. We think we know our personal money habits and that’s that. We know that it’s a common knowledge that saving money is good and spending too much is not.
Turns our there is more to money habits than mere saving and spending. We all have a specific relationship with money. A relationship we might know very little about in fact. According to a financial psychologist Brad Klontz, our financial habits develop quietly early in life and are predominantly affected by money beliefs and habits of our parents and close friends. In his interview with Morningstar, he also states that “as a result, many of us have an emotionally charged relationship with money, which is shaped very early on in our lives.” I can definitely relate to this, and most people I know do have deep-seated beliefs about money and its meaning in their life.
My best learning experience about my own financial habits came from creating my very first budget. I lived most of my life without having one, and I can tell you that having a budget made me aware and empowered about my finances like never before. So if you are at the stage where you feel lost and disempowered about your finances, begin with making a budget. I create d a free template here for you to download, or you can create one by hand if you prefer. Whatever the method, make a budget, even if it’s a very basic one!
Besides observing your money habits by tracking your budget, you might also benefit from taking a few quizzes. Some of our habits form patterns, and good quizzes help you discover these patterns.
I enjoyed taking this quick quiz on Moneyharmony’s website. I found the questions to be relevant and they allowed me to get to know myself better when it comes to making financial decisions.
To see how much you know about budgeting and other financial tools, take this quiz created by Make Money Make Sense. Even if you don’t know a lot now, you can learn quite a bit just by answering the questions.
Another good quiz relevant to parents was created by Charles Shwab. This quiz will help you understand if you are raising financially fit children. You can find it on this page.
If you are interested to identify your Biblical money type, check out this quiz by Tommy Brown. The Bible is full of financial wisdom, and you will learn something new by answering a few questions about your financial habits.
Whatever you learn in the process is guaranteed to benefit you knowledge-wise. Even if your money habits are not where you want them to be, they can be molded by your desire to succeed. It all starts with a desire to learn more and get more financially empowered!