Your Attitude and Your Money

Have you ever thought about how you feel about your money? Money defines so much of our lives-what we wear, where we live, what kinds of vacations we can take, our choices of higher education, and so on-maybe it's a good idea to take notice of how we feel and respond to it.

Are you a spendthrift or a miser? How do you feel when you leave all your money at home-including credit cards-and go shopping? Do you feel a bit short of breath? Unsettled? Or does it not faze you to go places without a penny in your pocket? Are you willing to invest your money in real estate ventures, or does every cent go towards paying off your own mortgage?

Experts say that how we feel about money is a learned response-and how we use it. That's a good thing if our attitude about money is to spend, spend, spend until it's all gone. You can relearn that potentially disastrous habit. But the same is true if you find that you cannot spend a cent. Sometimes money can and should be spent in order to improve the quality of your life, replace something that's worn out, or to repair things that need to be in good working order for health and safety's sake.

Looking at our parents money attitudes can give us some insight about how we learned the money lessons we did. Are your folks savers or real cheapskates? Did they give you a credit card to freely spend as you would? Or were they tight-fisted "old school" varieties who made you earn your allowance with small household chores-so you knew the value of a dollar by the time you were 11? There's a reason generations continue to live the same lifestyle their parents did-and it has a lot to do with what you learned as you grew up.

A bit of time reflecting on your own attitude towards money may go a long way to revealing why you are in your particular financial position. And understanding how you got there can be the first step to getting out-of debt, bankruptcy, credit delinquency, or other financial difficulty.

Managing money wisely is no great secret. Only a few simple guidelines-like buying with cash instead of credit, saving some amount each month, always paying bills on time-can completely change your money blues into bank account green. These are also the first steps towards regaining a strong credit rating and putting yourself into a position where you can choose the kind of lifestyle you want for you and your family-whether or not it was the one you grew up in.