Dysfunctional Financial Personality #4 - The Emotional Spender
18 August 2006This post is part of a continuing series - a rogue’s gallery of the worst of the worst kinds of personalities you can have when it comes to your finances. We’ve looked at the Peacock, who splurges on expensive stuff to impress other people and keep up with the Jones’. Then we saw the Mattress Stuffer, who is terrified of the stock market and ends up with tiny retirement savings by sticking to the most conservative investments possible. We also looked at the Foot Dragger, who puts off saving for retirement until it’s nearly impossible to do. Today, we’ll look at the Emotional Spender.
The Emotional Spender is a very common kind of personality, and I’d say that most people know the feeling that spurs this behavior on. Emotional Spenders tend to be women, not men - but there are a few males in there too. They spend not because they need something, or even because they really want it, but because they have stress or problems in other areas of their lives. People respond to stress with many different kinds of behavior that are satisfying in the short run but devastating over time. Everyone’s heard of the compulsive eater, who gains weight as food becomes a refuge from life’s problems. Emotional Spenders do the same thing.
Had a bad day at work? Well, buying a new purse will make you feel better. A rough week where you worked really hard? You deserve those new clothes. Emotional Spenders buy things because they get a short adrenaline rush when they do. Often, they know it’s a really bad idea - but they use rationalizations to justify the behavior. It’s just a hundred bucks. I’d buy it in a few months anyway. I NEED it. I’ll buy this, but no more splurging for a week! I mean a day! I mean…
How do you cope if you’re an emotional spender?
1) Address the underlying cause. This is a personal finance blog, not a psychology blog or relationship blog or whatever is causing your other problems. But you need to identify what is stressful in your life and do something about it. Sometimes there will be something stressful you can change fairly easily - if your job is stressful, maybe it’s not worth the extra salary to work there - especially if you’re blowing your money on junk anyway. If you’ve got more serious issues, then do what needs to be done to learn to cope. This could mean a support group, a therapist - whatever.
2) Spend on SMALL stuff. I get urges to go spend money sometimes when I’m having a bad day. I want to blow some on a video game or a book or SOMETHING to distract me from whatever’s going on. The solution I’ve used: go rent a movie. You can usually find something interesting there for $4 that will distract you until you don’t feel like wasting money any more. You might find something else you like that’s cheap - spend on that and not on the $400 shoes.
3) Make sure you don’t have any money to spend. Use automated savings programs that take money directly out of your paycheck and into your retirement plan - and max them out. Get rid of credit cards so you don’t have credit to fall back on. And generally, put your money some place you can’t get at it when you start to slip. Paying down the house, putting it into stocks that would take several days to sell, etc. are all examples of this.
4) When you feel the urge to spend, do something else! Go call up a friend and hang out. Do something that doesn’t cost any money, like taking a walk or talking to someone on the phone when it’s free. It should be something that is emotionally comforting to you - so the free thing can take the place of the destructive spending habit.
Discuss this on the Free the Drones Forums.
4 Responses to “Dysfunctional Financial Personality #4 - The Emotional Spender”
August 19th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
[...] The Emotional Spender who spends not because they need something, or even because they really want it, but because they have stress or problems in other areas of their lives. [...]
August 19th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
[...] This post is part of a series looking at the worst of the worst of people’s financial personalities. We’ve already discussed the Peacock, who feels the need to spend in order to impress. We’ve also taken a look at the Mattress Stuffer, who is compulsively afraid of risk and the stock market. Then, we looked at the Foot Dragger, who waits until the last minute to save for retirement. Finally, we saw the Emotional Spender, who can’t keep from blowing money to feel good. Today, we’re going to look at a personality you might not think is a bad one to have: The Obsessive Tightwad. [...]
August 27th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Personal Finance Carnival #63…
This is the first time that I host PF carnival at 1stMillionAt33. Thanks to Flexo at Consumerism Commentary for giving me this chance to host PF carnival #63. If you’re first time here on my site, you can take a look at my SiteMap on the right …
October 1st, 2006 at 10:55 pm
[...] Jim called me today from work and mentioned to me that one of his coworkers is having a tough time financially - to the tune of $60K in credit card debt. Eeek!! I guess he was out of work for a few months, and they lived off credit, but still….that’s some high on the hog living. I wonder if that guy is an emotional spender? Maybe being out of work MADE him want to have nice things and reward himself while being down in the dumps…that’s a vicious cycle to break. There are 8 personality types mentioned at Free The Drones listing the worst kinds of personalities you can have when it comes to your finances. I’m an emotional spender too, but I keep it in check a bit better than Jim’s coworker. 1st Oct | [...]