Beyond Budgets: Redefining Spending Problems

So you’ve heard that someone you know may have a spending problem. You might even think you have a slight spending problem yourself. What is the first thing that you think they (or you) need to do to get back on track? Responses I commonly hear revolve around getting on a budget or pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. 

The problem is we can’t assume they know how to budget, or that they’ve already tried and failed to stick to a previous plan. Many times it’s something else.

We know that willpower is not the strongest of brain functions and neurological research is continuing to affirm this. 

Which leads to another assumption, that overspending is a behavior issue and can be modified through behavior modification. Not always.  

When overspending isn’t fixed through simple budgeting, it communicates that there’s something more at play. So what is it that goes into the problem of overspending? 

The definition of overspending is often too narrow. For our purposes, I will defining it as buying more disposable goods and services then one currently has money for. See, we can overspend on services like health care out of necessity.

Overspending may be traced through at least these different areas for resolution: 

Personality Type – Some people live in the present without much future orientation. They are intuitive, living and making judgments based on senses and feelings. These kinds of people may be less likely to rely on and stick to a budget since that’s not the way they naturally process information. 

Family of Origin - Each of our families strongly influence the way that we view and use money in our life. If our families overspent money, then that pattern is likely to re-emerge in our own lives. Even if the activity is different, the pattern of overspending or undersaving is common. Families have a gravitational pull on us.  

Financial/Personal Trauma - When we have experienced a significant loss, we may develop a sense of brevity or life or financial security which alters the way that we think about the resources that are available to us. Bucket list pursuit is amazing if you know you only have a short time to live, but if you blow everything and still have 30 years to go then you may find yourself in the throws of difficulty.  

Cultural Influence - For most of us it is hard to fully escape the consumer society that we live in when the mission of business is to get us to buy more. The temptation and ease with which we can spend pulls on us strongly and only those with nerves of steel (very few people) can resist the beckoning of making too many purchases.  

I am not releasing us from our responsibility of making wise decisions with our resources, but I do want us to develop what Brene Brown calls critical awareness —  the ability to move from a general understanding of an issue to a nuanced understanding of the many factors that may be contributing to the problem.