Money Mindset: Expenses

Expenses, which is the fifth type of money, is something to be mindful of if you want to have a great relationship with money and a great money mindset.

Generally, there are two broad types of expenses. Necessities, i.e. your bills, housing, utilities, clothes, food, etc.  the essentials in life.

The other kind of expenses are considered luxuries; even though they may not include luxury brands. This segment comprises anything beyond necessities. Your mobile phone, designer clothing, holidays, are all good examples since you don’t need these to survive.

On a social level, we can say that what we spend on is a reflection of how we want to fit into society. It becomes a status symbol.

What's interesting about expenses is that they do tend to go up as your income goes up. Have you noticed this for yourself?  

For a lot of people, it often means moving into a better house, getting a better car, buying nicer clothes or going on holidays if you didn't do that before.

Spending money in and of itself isn't a bad thing. What's important is the money that you keep. We touched on this on the Truth About Income article.

You have to balance out the two, because if your expenses exceed your income, then you've got a problem.

The Three Most  Common Issues Around Expenses are: 

1.Overspending

Say you've got a monthly salary of $5,000 and for whatever reason, the sum of your expenses comes to $6,000. This would mean, you've got a deficit of a $1,000 every month. This comes from a habit of overspending; because you're spending more than what you're able to afford.

As a result, there’s a negative domino effect on the other types of money I discussed in previous posts. It affects your savings because if you're overspending, then there's no money left to save. You’ll go into debt since usually that deficit gets funded by some other form of money that isn't actually yours, like a credit card, and that can trigger off a different negative cycle.

2.Guilt

Guilt around spending on luxuries. Interestingly, this tends to affect people, once they reach a level of success.

I used to think of money issues in terms of the struggle to get promoted and make more money or overspending, but when when business owners and entrepreneurs started telling me that they suffered a lot of guilt around money, I notice it was an issue that arose after they started making more money than they were used to making.

What tends to happen here is that people break through and conquer a part of their money mindset and they’re able to earn more money than before, but what still comes and bites them in the backside is guilt around actually spending that money.

3.Being Too Frugal

Everyone knows at least one tight-ass!

While I think it's important to be responsible with your money and track it to understand what you're spending on, some people take it a bit too far.

So some people will make a big scene in public over the cost of something that probably isn't a big deal in most people's eyes.

So What Triggers Negative Emotions Around Expenses?

1. What Triggers Overspending?
   Usually this comes about because people are trying to break out of the poverty cycle. If you grew up in a scarcity environment, and then you finally start earning money of your own, you’ll have a new-found sense of freedom.
   
   You’ll be tempted to accumulate material possessions, spending money on lavish holidays, nice cars, and all sorts of indulgence that will make you feel good. The subconscious undertone behind these actions is the need to claim back your power.
   
   Growing up in poverty, makes people feel disempowered, and at the first chance, they’ll try to compensate by falling into the “I deserve it so I'm gonna treat myself” kind of mindset.
   
   The moral of the story here is not that you shouldn't be looking after yourself, but that the net result of that cycle actually leaves you feeling quite disempowered. Because when you end up with no savings, or even in debt, then that leads to a whole array of negative emotions and vicious cycles that we covered on the previous posts of this series. Ironically, by trying to get that freedom, you set yourself back.
   
   
2. What Triggers Guilt?
   If you grew up in a middle class family it’s likely that there was only ever enough money for necessities. So spending outside that group of expenses can trigger fear and panic, because that's what it would've caused in your family when you were younger because there wouldn't have been money for that.
   
   When you start to spend on lavish things, it makes you feel like you're not fitting into your tribe anymore. We're primed to want to fit in with our tribe which is usually our family.
   
   Another guilt trigger for a lot of people, is that they feel they’re being disrespectful or disempowering to their parents. Other people grew up being told that wealthy are greedy, so spending money on fancy things triggers that old belief and they feel guilty when spending money because it means they have now become one of those greedy people.
   
   
3. What Triggers Being Too Frugal?
   Being too frugal, again, is something that stems from growing up in poverty. You may not need the food stamps anymore but you're watching your money so closely that when some things seem even slightly overpriced, it just triggers that panic within you.
   
   However, this behaviour can cost more than you anticipate. Some people will drive for an hour to get something at a discount not realising that they're not only spending on fuel to get there, but they’re also spending time.

How To Improve Your Relationships With Your Expenses?

The good news here is that it's one of the areas where you can take really quick practical action.

If overspending is a problem for you, by simply starting to track your expenses, and doing an end of month review, you can understand where your money goes (I know this probably sounds like something you don't really want to do but, you can always write to me for help.)

If you’re struggling with  negative emotions, the first thing I want you to do is to notice when they arise. What is it that is triggering for you? Once you can identify that, then we can start to work with it, and start to neutralise the source of those negative emotions.

Comment below and let me know what you action you can take to manage your expenses more productively... and stay tuned for my next post where we will wrap up our money mindset series.  

To your success,

p.s. Whenever you're ready to experience a massive money mindset breakthrough, here's how I can help you: 

1. 🌟 Grab a free copy of my book

This will teach you my top technique that I use to manifest just about everything - and it only takes a few minutes per day. 👉 Get it here

2. 🌟 Join my free Money Mindset Accelerator group

This is my Facebook community where entrepreneurs get on the fast track to achieving amazing results by learning how to develop a powerful money mindset. 👉 Join here

3. 🌟 Join my Money Mindset Accelerator Bootcamp

This is my super awesome 7-week program where I show entrepreneurs how to find and break through their hidden money blocks, how to become an excellent money manager & and how to supercharge your business with empowered client attraction methods (without ever having to be sales-y). 👉 Find out more here.

4. 🌟 Chat to me privately

Do you feel like you have blocks but you don't know what they are? I totally get it... book a call with me and we can have a private chat about what's keeping you stuck and I'll find the blocks with you on the call... and I'll show how to fix them, of course :)


To discover how you can clear your money blocks and create a life you love and deserve, check out our free Money Breakthrough training: 
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