Save More Money When You Find out What Your Money Style Is

Ready to find out how your personality shapes the way you see money? Here are the 7 money styles influencing you.

Updated 05 Aug 2019

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Before you launch into budgeting, saving and other money-related affairs, you need to determine what your money personality is. Yes, your money style.

Sounds strange? Hear us out; discovering how you handle money and how money affects you will greatly help you when you draw up a budget to decide how much money to allocate to each priority. You’ll also learn how your purchasing habits influence your general attitude towards money.

Ready to find out how your personality shapes the way you see money? Check out these 7 different money styles below!

#1. The Hoarder

You know how Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants hoards every single penny he can and goes about saying "Money, money, money"? That's you, except you aren't a bright red crab in a cartoon.

As the Hoarder, money helps you feel safe and in control. Having heaps of money stashed away in your savings gives you immense peace of mind and you're all for delayed gratification instead of instant gratification. However, your insistence on stretching your ringgit to impossible lengths by being extremely frugal (to the point of being stingy) isn't a healthy trait to have. Saving is good, but it doesn’t hurt to treat yourself or others once in a while.

#2. The Planner

While the Hoarder is only focused on seeing the digits in their bank account increase, the Planner uses money as a tool to reach goals instead of seeing it as the coveted prize. If you're a Planner, budgets and goals are part and parcel of your life. You've most likely got a spreadsheet or app to track every transaction you've made, and every purchase you make is intentional. No impulse shopping for you at all!

Your money style is such that you've mapped out your finances, so you are able to achieve all the goals you want to hit. Travel fund? Emergency fund? Fun times fund? You’re slowly saving for almost everything, and you're on your way to reaching all your targets.

#3. The Spontaneous Spender

Unlike the Planner, the Spontaneous Spender has eyes only for what's currently going on. The future? What's that?

You spend money on anything you feel like in the moment — no matter the price tag. Whether it’s swiping your card to purchase a decadent slice of chocolate cake after dinner or to buy the latest fancy smartwatch, you're all about living your best life now.

Unfortunately, debt will soon come knocking and you won't have an emergency fund to fall back on thanks to your splurging. It’s time to rethink your identity as the Spontaneous Spender if this is your money style.

#4. The Status-Seeker

Status-seekers use money to help build their image. They abound in the Instagram realm, so if you get a thrill out of knowing others envy your perfectly-crafted image, you definitely identify as this money style. You obsess over making sure you portray the perfect lifestyle via your social media news feed and don't mind shelling out the cash for it.

Cracks will start to show soon if you continue stressing over the image you're trying to build of yourself on social media. So, avoid spending money just for the gram and try changing your lifestyle a little.

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#5. The Giver

As the Giver, money helps you feel good when you give to those in need. People turn to you when they're facing dire financial difficulties as they know you'll readily lend them the sum they ask for. Your non-materialistic trait comes hand in hand with your simple lifestyle and you believe it's more important to give than to take.

Yes, you're the most giving money personality, but while your generosity is commendable, you should still think of your own future too and save before giving all your money away to others. It’s good to be your generous and giving self but don't let people take advantage of you!

#6. The Carefree Spender

Do you order whatever you want on the menu without checking the price? Maybe this extends to not bothering to collect the change for a dinner bill or never checking your debit card statement to make sure there are no suspicious transactions. If you relate to this then you’re a Carefree Spender.

As the Carefree Spender, money is not important to you. You don’t prioritise saving or budgeting because you believe that “money comes and goes” and it’s not the most important thing in the world. While you don't let other people's expectations bother you, your tendency to totally ignore the consequences of your worrying money actions may come back to bite you in the future.

#7. The Emotional Spender

Your friend lashed out at you after a misunderstanding, causing you to feel down and upset. Instead of making an attempt to explore your emotions and let yourself cool down, you rush straight to a store for some ”‘retail therapy”. Entering the bright venue with its many shiny items beckoning you to buy them gives you a thrill, and you feel your sadness slip away when you buy, buy, buy.

Hold it there! It looks like you’re the Emotional Spender who goes shopping when struck by sadness, anger or happiness. This leads to impulse buys, debt and a huge dent to your savings. If you know you’re the type to swipe your card maniacally when you’re overwhelmed with emotion, try opening a new bank account for your emotional shopping and limit the amount of money you store in it. This should hopefully curb any dreadful financial consequences.

Recognise a few of your traits in any of these money styles? After you've locked down your money personality, you'll know exactly what you need to do to manage your finances better. Here's to a healthy financial future!