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How can you tell the difference between keeping track of your spending and obsessing over money?
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Re: Money Obsession
That is a good guestion and I don't know how to answer it. I think I obsess over money. My father died suddenly when I was a little girl and my mother was bought up in that era when women did not work. (born in 1907) She had no job and no skills. we lived on our savings for 2 years til she got a job making $25 a week for 6 days. I went to work at age 12 and bought all my clothes and school things.
I never saw my mother buy anything for herself, money was so tight. Welfare was available but she was too proud. We would go without food before she would pay a bill late.
I grew up very consious of money and the need to save. Even though I have pretty good savings, I am always worried about running out of money, so I must be obsessed with money. However, I do still allow my self to have some fun with money. I do like to eat out, so we do that almost every night. If I need something, I do buy it. I just don't like to throw money away on every whim. -
Re: Money Obsession
if a thought keeps you from having fun, like having to stop at the bank before you can go play in the park with the kids, then it is prolly an obbsession. and if you need to be obbsessed to keep out of debt, so be it! you can unobsses later IMO.
Trouble wiht money is it really is neccessary for life, so you sortof have to be a bit obbssessed.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I think you need to weigh the benefit/savings you obtain from keeping track of $$ versus the time spent on it. If you have a ton of time on it only to derive a very slight savings, you might decide it's not worth the effort.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
Looking back, I think money has become an obsession for me. We have a decent savings and decided to buy a new van. We have to make payments, but had enough money in savings to put down quite a bit and still have money left in savings. I worried and worried over it. My husband gets on me about the constant worrying I do. I think a lot of stems from growing up with two parents who lived through the dirty thirties depression and talked about being so poor. My dad retired and had little s.s. and no pension, annuities or such and my mom received about $300 in s.s. Now my dad is gone, she receives his s.s. which still puts her at the poverty level. I do not want to face retirement like that, never feeling secure, always having to scrimp. I try to help her out and she appreciates it, but I know I do not want to live like that.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I'm the same way. But my feeling is there are worse obsessions in life than trying to be frugal.
A spinoff from this topic might be: Do you ever get angry at yourself when you miss out on a savings opportunity? For example, you bought something at a store or online and then realized later that you had a coupon for it. Then you're in a bad mood because you overspent by $5 or $10. We shop at Meijer (local grocery chain) and get these "Baby Bucks" printouts for buying baby items. I was foolishly throwing them away thinking they were accumulating on my Meijer guest card. Of course they weren't and I missed out on a $25 gift card. Really kicked myself for that one.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I agree there are worst obsessions than being frugal. I don't beat my self up when I buy something and find it cheaper somewhere else. I just grin and bear it!Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I'm wondering lately if I'm too obsessive about money. It seems to be constantly on my mind and it has helped me reduce my debt, but I'm still not sure it's healthy to think about money 23 hours out of every day (only a slight exaggeration)Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
So next time you are thinking about it, and it doesn't really matter - stop.
I know that is easier said than done, but try it, it will get easier.
but don't go backwards and buy a new car you can't afford just to stp thinking about money. But do set up a splurge you deserve (mine is a shower and milk, err not at the same time) and enjoy it thinking about anything but money.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
Yeah, I think about this too. I seem to worry about money the same amount whether I have unusually low expenses or unusually high expenses in a given month. I agree that there are worse obsessions, but I am trying to focus more on enjoying time with my family, enjoying relaxation time, and not spend all my time reading these helpful but addictive boards and thinking about how I can save another few bucks.
Money is tight for us, but we have no debt except our mortgage and we have pretty good savings, so I should just RELAX about it, probably.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I know how you feel Claire. My husband is self employed and I always worry that he might not have a job or a pay check for a while. I have to stop and make myself think, ok, we have enough money to live a year or two and he will never go that long without a house to build. It just that you hate to think about using your savings to live on. We did it once when we first moved and it took forever to build our savings back up again.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I think I am a bit obsessed with money. I think it tends to just be a habit for me. My parents didn't have a lot of money while I was growing up, but at the same time they didn't really talk about money. We were fine getting toys from a yard sale for Christmas, but my parents never really talked about their debts or credit cards. When I got older, I always worked. The one thing money related my parents instilled in me is hard work.
Now, I'm obsessed with not being in debt. I paid my living expenses through college, but took out student loans for tuition since my parents couldn't contribute anything to help out. I'm not angry about that, but my student loans annoy me.
Personally, I don't obsess over small things that much. I do look over the Sunday paper for coupons (we get the paper at my work, and I read it on my lunch), but generally I only find coupons for things I wouldn't buy anyway.
I think there is a fine line between obsession and just being aware of money. I try and not let money dictate my decisions about my life, or become so all encompassing that I spent my day trying to find "deals" that only save me $1. It all depends on how much time you have, and what you're willing to spend it on. For some people, clipping coupons saves money and is worth the time. The same goes for looking for savings of other kinds too.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
At this point in my life I am obsessed. Maybe when the DW and I are out of debt I'll obsess less. My belief is, out of debt out of danger.Comment
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Re: Money Obsession
I think tracking spending can be done is as little as 1 to 2 hours per month. Based on time spent, Americans are much more obsessed with TV than money
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Re: Money Obsession
I come from a third-world country (South Africa). I've also been hungry. Under these circumstances I believe that I am moderate in my obesssion with money. I rejoice every day that my CJ will never live through the circumstances I did, and also rejoice that he will grow up in the US where my early circumstances do not happen.
May I also state that those of you who were born in the US and raised in this wonderful country, should also vocally rejoice in your good fortune.Comment
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