How to See Beyond the “money Fog”
If you let fear, commitment, or guilt control your money decisions, you will be stuck in a money fog.
What does it mean? Basically, instead of making thoughtful financial choices that will help you achieve your long-term goals, you are making more impulsive financial choices based on these three negative emotions.
Fear
Fear may tell you not to negotiate a higher salary, even if you’ve spent the last week practicing your negotiating strategies.
Commitment
The commitment may direct you to contribute to every GoFundMe that goes through your social media channels, even if you are currently paying your own medical debt.
Guilt
Feelings of guilt can tell you that you need to keep the kids in dance classes, even if you put lessons (as well as costumes and tickets to see your own child perform) on credit cards.
As Lazetta Rainey Braxton, founder and CEO of Financial Fountains, explains, women are more likely to find themselves surrounded by fog . Here’s what Braxton, for example, has to say about fear:
“Lady bag syndrome” – the thought that she is homeless and penniless – is considered one of the biggest financial concerns for women. Surprisingly, BLS affects women at all economic levels. It appears in women who have doubts about their spending habits and the level of debt, the amount of their retirement savings and the amount of money left to them as widowers or divorced women.
Financial news also heightens fear among women who don’t understand financial concepts such as investing. The stock market crash and Bernie Madoffs are causing mental anxiety that often stifles their interest in financial literacy.
Realities such as the gender pay gap , the lack of gender diversity in the workplace (including the C-Suite) and the low representation of women on corporate boards also raise concerns about unemployment, job loss and career stagnation. Sexism threatens to reduce a woman’s chances of earning money in ways that support her financial and life goals.
How to get out of the fog
Sometimes it’s as easy as taking a deep breath. Reminding yourself of your goals and values can help you better assess a potential financial solution. For example, if one of your goals is to make more money this year, it will be easier for you to participate in this difficult negotiation conversation.
Setting budgets and boundaries also helps, especially when your goals and values conflict. You can value helping others and stick to your goal of paying off your own debt by creating a monthly “charity” budget. Yes, it will be difficult to scroll past a good friend’s GoFundMe when you’ve already spent your “donated” money for the month, but now the decision comes down to whether you want to dive into next month’s “charitable” budget to show your support, whether you want to reduce debt repayment to help a friend.
Finally, you can avoid feeling guilty by reminding yourself that saying no to something means saying yes to something else. Saying no to dance classes you can’t afford means saying yes to a balanced budget and spending more time with your family.
How often do you find yourself in the “Money Fog” and how to get out of it?