Three Self-Care Reminders from The Psychology of Money

Does anyone actually like to talk about money?

Personally, it’s not my favorite topic. Think about it though: wouldn’t you rather talking about reading for mental self-care, going to therapy for emotional self-care, or creating routines for practical self-care? But this year, we are changing things up and having the uncomfortable conversations. We’ve already talked about professional self-care, now it’s time to eat the frog and talk about another “unpleasant” self-care type.

This month, we’re chatting about financial self-care. Let’s get started.

What exactly is financial self-care?

Like I shared in this week’s email, I like to define financial self-care as the habits and practices that help us maintain a healthy relationship with money and achieve our financial goals.

With all of the financial advice and content out there these days, it’s hard to know what to focus on. I’m not a financial advisor so I’m right alongside you, listening to different podcast to learn more and trying different saving methods, debt repayment models, etc.

I finally decided to take my finances seriously a couple of years ago by seeking out sound financial advice and tips. That’s what recently led me to The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel. Now this book isn’t your typical finance book. You won’t learn about the mechanics of investing in a mutual fund.

However, it will challenge how you approach your finances.

Regardless of your financial self-care focus (investing, saving, debt payment, etc.), the lessons in the book are relatable and applicable to our lives no matter our focus.2 Here are three self-care reminders from the book thus far:

Learn to be Content

Open any social media app right now and you’ll see ads, whether from companies, influencers, or both. (As a content creator, I could be viewed as part of the problem too! Trust me I get the irony!) We see constant messages about items and lifestyles that we “should” seek after. What I dislike the most is that these messages constantly push the goalpost forward; so it feels like we constantly have to consume and buy new things to keep up with the latest trends.

Unfortunately, it’s not just the “luxury” lifestyle trends at issue here either. The “minimalist” lifestyle content can be tricky too! One minute you’re watching a TikTok about minimalist design/lifestyle and the next second you find yourself throwing out anything with color in your home and replacing it with everything white and beige. (Ever heard of the clean girl aesthetic? This trend is a good example of how we may find ourselves purchasing more expensive items for a cleaner/minimal aesthetic.)

The Psychology of Money talks about why it’s so important to learn to be content. The lesson here is that when you become content with what you have, you’ll find yourself spending less money on frivolous things, taking fewer unnecessary risks, and reaching your financial self-care goals.

This lesson also reminded me of the importance of having discernment. What works for me here is slowing down, doing some research, and asking questions. For example, is Lululemon a better quality gear or can I buy similar yet less expensive items elsewhere? Do I really need the newest leather planner cover that just dropped or can I dust off the planner cover I have stored in the attic? In order to practice the “clean girl” lifestyle, do I really need a Stanley cup or is there a cheaper option that will help me achieve the same goal of drinking more water?

At the end of the day, things and items will always break and need to be replaced. But when we practice gratitude for and learn to be content with the things we currently have, we can find ourselves spending less on items that won’t matter or last long (therefore saving money for the things that do matter)!

Learn to Keep Money

(For the record, we are not talking about the rising cost of living and stagnant wages. It’s definitely hard to keep money when gas and food prices continue to rise and we get the same 2% raises, or no raise at all, from our jobs. For purposes of this blog post, we are talking about our spending habits on non-essential items!)

If you’re like me, you might be a recovering emotional spender. (Don’t be shy, comment below if that’s you!) Have a bad day at work? Go get your favorite takeout, even though there’s food at home. Need to distract yourself before having to start work? Go scroll on Amazon and purchase every item in your cart. Trust me, I’ve done both of these things before.

Houser talks about the importance of learning to keep money. I appreciated this message because we can learn how to carefully spend our money but we should know how to keep it as well. For example, you might decide to buy an iPad Air instead of an iPad Pro because the Air is a more sensible item for you. Now it’s time to decide what to do with the money you saved on buying the Air instead of the Pro. Do you save the money in a money market account or high-yield savings account? Do you invest in an index fund or cryptocurrency? Smart spending decisions won’t matter if we don’t know how to keep or maintain the money we save from those decisions.

How are you at keeping money? Do you struggle to keep money when life is a little more stressful at the moment? Can you recognize any patterns in your spending behavior (like stress shopping)? All of these questions were important for me when learning how to keep money and I hope they help you as well.

Failure Might be Part of the Process

Spending aside, one of the important lessons I’ve learned from The Psychology of Money is that failure might be part of the process of your financial self-care journey. The book talked about how failure can be part of the investing process but I find the lesson is applicable to other areas of financial self-care. For example, you might take a risk with investing and “fail” by not making as much money as you hoped or even losing money. On the other hand, you might implement a no-spend week but have a particularly stressful day and suddenly you find yourself at Target.

Just remember: grace.

Regardless of whether the failure occurs with investing, spending, or paying down debt, grace is part of the process. We’re human so we will make mistakes. That’s inevitable.

What’s important though is that we try to learn from the mistakes. What went wrong? Are there any roadblocks that will lead to the same result? What do I need to change to not make the same mistake again?

Whether you are just starting an intentional finance journey or consider yourself well-versed in finance, there are lessons and takeaways for us all in The Psychology of Money.

What lesson resonated with you? Feel free to add a comment below!