Everyone has a money story…you know, it’s the way you view money usually shaped by your life experiences with money. Perhaps you’ve never considered that you have a money story or maybe you know your story quite well. Either way, this short story may help you figure out if it’s time to rewrite your money story.
There once was an older mom teaching her daughter to prepare a meatloaf dinner. She taught her daughter to always cut the ends of the meatloaf off before putting it in the oven. This daughter learned to prepare meatloaf and then went on to teach her daughter how to prepare this family recipe. The granddaughter was now learning how to prepare this family recipe when she decided to ask her mother, “why do we cut the ends of the meatloaf off before putting it in the oven?” Mom replied, “that’s how we prepare this family recipe”. Unsettled by her mother’s response, the granddaughter later asked her grandmother “why do we cut off the ends of the meatloaf before placing it in the oven?” The grandmother told the granddaughter, “oh, I did that because I had a really small oven many years ago and it wouldn’t fit otherwise”.
Like this recipe being passed down through generations, you may have some money management practices that could benefit from being refined.
Let’s first take a few minutes to think through our money story.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you discover your money story:
- What is my first memory of money?
- When was the first time I had money?
- What are my beliefs about making money?
- How do I feel when I have enough money to meet my needs?
- What question(s) do I have about how I witnessed money being handled?
- Who influenced perspective about money when I was an adolescent, young adult, adult?
Now that you have a bit of information about your money story, you can decide if it’s time to ask some questions and potentially begin rewriting your money story.
Not certain where to begin…Better Financial Counseling has a team of Accredited Financial Counselors prepared to help you reach your financial goals. Contact Us
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