Financial Wellness: 3 Ways To Understand Your Money Habits
With these three practical tips, explore financial wellness and discover where you stand in learning and applying it to your financial life today.
Financial Wellness is all about the relationship between health and money. This relationship covers financial habits, mindsets/behaviors, and well-being, which combine to shape how we understand and manage finances.
Financial Wellness
Where do you stand in financial wellness? If you are unsure and can’t figure it out or looking for a more practical approach, Here are three ways to understand ‘money and me.’
Money Mirror
Financial Wellness can not happen without Financial Literacy! Why?
Let’s Paint a Picture: Imagine looking at a full-body mirror in a store, in your room, or anywhere. It reflects the surface level of who you are: your shoes, clothes, body, hair, etc.
It doesn’t show you what’s happening inside you, your thoughts and beliefs, or how your body passes all sorts of information inside you. So, a mirror essentially gives you a surface-level understanding of you.
Your Money Mirror is the same. It only reflects your surface-level understanding of your money: the amount in your bank, savings, expenses, income, allowance, etc. , but financial literacy helps you look deeper.
To be financially literate, one must understand how money works, the behaviors that affect ‘money and me,’ and hidden decisions connected to financial decisions.
Financial literacy is critical because it allows you to realize new growth opportunities and understand the mindset connected to what you have ( scarcity or abundance ). The habits you gain from being financially literate allow for better money management and prosperity.
What is Beyond Your Money Mirror?
Money Over Me or Me Over Money
You can’t discuss financial wellness without including emotions and relationships. Everything related to money revolves around our relationship with it.
An unhealthy relationship with money forms unhealthy financial patterns. ‘Money Over Me’ doesn’t mean striving for more success and monetary gain; it’s when money becomes your master, and you serve it in a way that controls your emotions. Lack of balanced emotions around money leads to bad financial decisions and poor financial well-being.
On the Other Hand, ‘Me over Money’ changes the narrative and sees money as a tool that serves you. It’s about control and discipline. This connects to your willingness to understand how family patterns, upbringing, or values from your community may have shaped your relationship with money. Ask yourself if these relationships are healthy or unhealthy for financial success. Having control and a healthy relationship with money starts with addressing hindering habits that create poor financial wellness.
The ‘Me over Money’ mindset gives you control over your own emotions rather than money’s control over them so that you will make more informed and wiser financial decisions.
Are You A ‘Me Over Money’ Or ‘Money over Me’ person?
A Balanced Savings and Investment Diet
A good health and wellness tip is to ensure you eat a balanced diet daily for every meal. In financial wellness, you must consider incorporating a balanced savings and investment diet into your financial decisions and health.
Let’s Paint A Picture. Imagine a savings account as a carb and an investment as a protein. You need carbohydrates for a balanced meal but in proportion. However, protein is essential for energy and muscle building.
In the same way, a good savings account is necessary for emergencies, safety blankets, and rainy-day purposes. It should be adequate but not excessive, leaving room for investments. However, investments are crucial for growing your financial muscle. A balanced diet with savings and investments increases financial wellness and stability and prevents financial stagnation.
It’s important to note that every investment starts with savings!
An unbalanced savings and investment diet can lead to financial setbacks and a lack of security.
So, How Balanced is your financial savings and Investment Diet?
Financial wellness is all about empowering yourself with knowledge of ‘Money and Me.’ It’s time to start that journey now. You do not want to be entrusted with a lot of money only to make poor decisions leading to poor financial health. It’s Time to Get on your Financial wellness journey!
’For Additional Help in jumpstarting your financial wellness journey, check out Financial Wellbeing Recommendations
