Complex Numbers

What About Money?

For this, my final August post (I'm going back to the 30DBC tomorrow), I'm going to take my chances with Psychology Today.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-act-be/201907/what-your-relationsh...

Before I delve into the clickbaity part, I would like to point out the menu bar on top of the webpage:

"Find a Therapist." "Get Help." You know, just in case you were wondering if the universe was trying to tell you something.

Actual article:

What Your Relationship with Money Reveals About You
...and why romantic partners often fight over finances

More like: What your relationship with money reveals about your relationship with money. Come the hell on.

Money is a complicated topic. Most of us tend to feel uncomfortable talking about it, and might even prefer to reveal aspects of our sex lives than to divulge our income.

"Yeah, I like to go to S&M clubs dressed as a pink rabbit, get chased by someone in a fox suit until I can't breathe anymore, then let them have their way with me until I pass out. What's that? How much money do I make? That's personal!"

Do you feel like there’s never enough money, and always too many expenses? Does it pain you to spend money? You may have a scarcity mindset, as described by Steven Covey in his bestselling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

The book The Seven Habits of Highly Defective People is harder to find, but probably more useful.

And without realizing it, those early experience “can haunt you 20 years later,” said Honda. For example, maybe your parents couldn’t afford the fashions that the other kids were wearing, so you developed a feeling of inadequacy.

My parents could damn well afford them, but I ended up with discount rack seconds anyway, because they were cheap fuckers. You know what, though? It built character, and I don't obsess over what I wear now.

For example, if we dreamed of getting a nice toy but couldn’t afford it, we might come to believe that the things we really want in life will always be out of reach.

The trick to that is to make sure to only want things that are in reach. Life is easier, simpler, more rewarding, less stressful, and happier that way.

As Honda noted, it’s often no accident that people with opposing views of money end up together. “For a saver, a spender looks so attractive,” he said, “because they know how to enjoy life. And a spender is attracted to a saver because they offer security.” And while these aspects may have drawn the couple together, after a while, the same tendencies can become sources of irritation.

No, don't think of that as sources of irritation. Think instead of the great material you're giving comedy writers!