Knowing why you spend is as important as knowing what you spend when it comes to developing healthy financial habits. If you’ve ever heard of the Love Languages, you might be interested to know that people have assorted of financial love language as well.
Each of the six financial love languages reflects the psychology behind your spending habits. Read about these six motivating factors to find out which category is top priority for you when faced with the temptation to spend. If you were given a sum of money that had to be spent, not saved, which type of activity would you choose as a preferred venue?
Once you rate your financial priorities or love languages, you can then determine which items are worthy of a financial investment to you, and which may be classified as impulse buying or unwise purchase decisions based on your financial moral code. Higher rated categories should receive more of your financial resources in order to maintain a healthy balance and a good attitude about spending.
Each of the categories has the potential to contain wise and unwise purchases, but the difference is in the psychology of spending. If you make purchases inline with your financial love language or financial moral code, you’ll be more satisfied with your spending habits and avoid guilt and shame associated with impulse spending in a category that does not hold much of a sense of enjoyment or reward for you personally.
Tips for Understanding Buying Habits
To better understand what is behind your spending habits, here are a few facts about spending:
Seeing a credit card logo such as Mastercard or Visa on a product’s packaging or website increases the chance of an impulse buy. If you notice the logo when deciding to make a purchase, be aware that its presence may have some influence on your decision.
Late-night spending often leads to poor financial choices. Most people have an easier time extending willpower to turn down purchases early in the day, but that source of willpower depletes as the day wears on. So, shop in the morning, not at night. So, what is your financial love language?
