How can we overcome the fear of spending? | The National (2024)

FAQs

How to overcome fear of financial insecurity? ›

Create an emergency fund: Having an emergency fund can give you peace of mind because you know you have enough money set aside to pay your bills if you become sick or lose your job. Discard financial shame: Comparing your lifestyle or spending to others, especially on social media, only feeds money anxieties.

You need to do basic things like take care of your home, your health, your daily needs, and your social and emotional well-being. Use a budgeting app to help you manage your money and reduce how much you worry about overspending. Set up a direct debit for all your regular payments, especially if bills give you anxiety.

The first step in addressing your fear is reflecting on the root cause, either alone or with the help of a financial therapist. Steps to overcome your fear of money and get ahead with your finances include starting with the basics, educating yourself, and identifying your financial goals.

What is it? Chrometophobia – which comes from the Greek word “chermato”, meaning “money” – is an extreme, irrational and overwhelming fear of spending money, and sometimes of money itself. Sufferers can experience intense anxiety or panic at the sight, smell or touch of physical money, or at the thought of spending it.

How do I get over my guilt of overspending? First, figure out what kind of spending makes you feel guilty and why. Perhaps it's based on childhood or past experiences. Then, consider creating a budget and planning purchases to avoid buyer's remorse or impulse spending.

A cheapskate can also be called a miser or a tightwad. Definitions of cheapskate. noun. a miserly person. synonyms: tightwad.

"Overspending is often more than just a lapse in financial judgment; it frequently signals underlying emotional or psychological triggers. For instance, some people may overspend as a form of escapism, temporarily distracting themselves from stress or emotional pain," Hathai says.

Many people experience a similar type of fear when it comes to budgeting. Even if you're successful financially, pulling a budget together (and sticking to it) can be fear-inducing because there's a high risk of failure.

Beyond general worries around your bank account, an extreme fear of spending money can sometimes be linked to some mental health concerns. For example, having extremely rigid control over your finances is sometimes linked to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD for short).

Four factors typically help initiate financial instability: (1) increases in interest rates, (2) a deterioration in bank balance sheets, (3) negative shocks to nonbank balance sheets such as a stock market decline, and (4) increases in uncer- tainty.