Is there a such thing as being “good” or “bad” with money? Are our attitudes to money stemming from our gender? Or is that one big misconception? Traditionally, you would see gender-based stereotypes stating that women typically cannot control their money because they cannot control their shopping urges. Whereas men use their money to achieve power and luxury, with a desire to outperform the market. So, I am here to prove that gender doesn’t characterize whether you are good with your money or not and the first step in doing so, is to refresh your money mindset.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

The best way to become money literate is to firstly know what you’re doing and keep that knowledge in front of you where possible. I don’t mean hanging sticky notes on your mirror (or if that works, you do you), but rather follow money-wise social media accounts, read money blogs or listen to financial podcasts. Achieving this as jargon free as possible can help you get excited about spending, saving and investing.

REPROGRAM YOUR PERCEPTION OF MONEY

Whilst growing up, seeing how your parents treated money programs your perception of money. How did they use their credit cards? Were they frugal spenders? Odds are those behaviours are ingrained in your money habits but they don’t need to define you. Take a moment to review this and develop your own abilities to earn, spend and manage your money in a way that works for you.

OUTSMART YOUR INNER VOICE

You have been working hard. When the weekend comes you think to yourself, “I’ve had a big week, I deserve to treat myself.” I often have a mindset similar to this and I’ll eat out for dinner, or spend extra money on unnecessary grocery items, or buy clothing for myself or my kids that I’ve had my eye on for a while.

Yes, you probably do deserve to treat yourself, but your ability to distinguish when enough is enough is where your money mindset can be reset. Here are a few tips to tackle your inner voice:

• See something you like? Give yourself 24 hours before you splurge yourself and your hard earned cash. This gives you time to really determine whether you actually NEED what you’re thinking of buying
• Afterpay. ZipPay. They sound great on the surface, but it’s very easy to go down a debt wormhole with these. So don’t use them for non-essential goods. If you can’t afford it, you don’t need it, it’s that simple
• Save for something that’s truly important to you, like a new home, a new car, or a holiday. Not only is the trade-off when you reach your goal worth it, but it also distracts you from wasting your money on non-essential items because you are goal oriented

Gender doesn’t define whether you like to shop or your desire for luxuries, therefore you can do a money reset like the above regardless of your gender because all human spending habits and attitudes come from the same mentalities. So the rest is up to you, change your perceptions, refresh your goals and enjoy your life with eternal wisdom when it comes to your money.

Written for you by Keira Borg