💸 Money Mindset: Staying Calm When Finances Get Tough 💸

Money, cash, dough, skrilla, cheddar, cheese, dinero, loot, stacks, coins…y’all get the point; all words that can spark a host of emotions. 💰Where one person might get majorly excited, another might release an eye-rolling groan. It’s one of those things that’s a gift & a curse, either way it’s subjective & depends on the kind of money mindset you have. 

     A money mindset is basically the way you view money, & your experiences with money shape how healthy or unhealthy it may be. There are ways to mold your mind into the more positive direction, so let’s throw out a few, shall we?

Our Money Mindset Process: The Jump-Off 🤑🧠

The Gen X Money Mindset Experience 

Just like any other beliefs we have, your money mindset is formed from a very young age. 👶🏽 Between your parents’ socioeconomic status & their habits & attitudes surrounding money, you start forming an idea of what money means, how to feel about it, & how to handle it. 

     Most kids think there’s a money tree in everybody’s yard. 🌳 Mine definitely do, especially That Lil Girl. I don’t know where she got the idea that we have money hand over fist for her to have “shopping sprees” & trips all over the world the next month, but the lie detector determined that’s a lie. A BIG LIE! I’m still searching for said money tree as we speak. These kids are different than when I was younger.

     My experiences with money growing up were a mix of feelings, beliefs, & behaviors. That generation was ready to work & get what we wanted & needed. Parents basically told us if we wanted extras, we needed to find a job. My parents provided us with all of our needs & a lot of our wants, but they also instilled in us a solid work ethic & a hereditary grind mode gene. 🧬 (Side note: I got a lot more wants before they started adding all the kids to the mix, splitting my rightful “inheritance” even more 😂) That will to work was almost automatic in us Gen X’ers.

     Reflecting on my teenage years, I don’t think I had a friend who didn’t work, in addition to holding down good grades & being involved in a ton of extracurricular activities. Whole crew was thorough; true boss bishes in the making. 💪🏽 As soon as I hit 16, I was right at Freedom Mall working 15-20 hours per week at Target. I hated it just because I had to step outside of my comfort zone & talk to strangers, but it was otherwise an easy job. Couldn’t tell me a thing making that $4.75/hour! 

     I wasn’t one of the privileged ones who got a car in high school. Ya girl had to drive the family van if I needed to get around. 🚐 I didn’t even get my first car until junior year of college, & my mama helped me get that. While some of my classmates were riding around in brand new mustangs, I was hopping on the yellow cheese every morning & afternoon. It taught me that I needed to work for what I want; there are no handouts.

The Gen Z & Gen Alpha Money Mindset Experience

Honey…these children of mine haven’t grasped those values we were raised with. They think money grows on trees, & you don’t have to put a lot of effort into things to get a return. Don’t get me wrong, the boys were ready to go to work before they were the legal age to work, but this girl of ours…🤷🏽‍♀️. All I can say is her brothers better be financially stable in the next decade cuz she’s gonna rotate hitting each of them up for something for sure!

     No shade to the youngsters, but there doesn’t seem to be the same grind mode mentality many of us 30+ year old folks have. Parents still waking them up for school in high school, still having to check to see if they have homework, not really thinking beyond the next day/week/month. Maybe it’s because they have way more resources now at their fingertips, or maybe it’s the previous generations’ thought of their kids having more than they did growing up. 🤔 I’m not sure what it is, but it’s definitely different. 

Our Money Mindset Process: The Lifelong Drive 🏎️

The Money Mindset Journey 🗺️

When I was younger, I didn’t learn much about credit or how student loans would impact my pockets. 😭 I just knew the options were work, military, or school. I chose school, but if I knew then what I know now about student loan debt; sorry UNC, ya girl would’ve been somewhere else on a full scholarship. When we were in need of the money, those refund checks every semester came through in the clutch. There was a 2-week period I ate Ramen noodles 3 meals a day every day because I couldn’t afford anything beyond those $0.10 packets. 🍜 Needless to say, it was years before I ate another noodle, but having money in my account made it seem worth it at the time.

     Having to pay all that loan money back now seems never-ending. 😵‍💫 The amount they want monthly is more than half of my monthly income. Can someone please explain to the government that if they don’t want to forgive student loan debt, at least make the repayments reasonable enough for a person to live afterward. All I can hear is Navient, Sally Mae, or whatever the name is now being the ringleader of that stupid TitTok “just gimme my money.”

     When I was working in Florida, the cashflow was ridiculous! Reflecting back on the money I blew makes me want to kick myself in the tail. 🍑 Instead of paying off things, stacking money, & investing, I was BMF in the club & mall & giving money to anyone who needed it. Just wasteful! It was fun though, & I walked away with a lot of lessons.

     Because of the lessons I learned about credit & debt just by experience, I’ve been trying to instill more info to my kids. Not getting a lot of credit cards & living within their means are 2 things I preach to the oldest. 💳 Living by a budget is necessary to know where your money is going. And most of all, thinking beyond the near future to prepare for the possibility of anything happening.

     I’ve gotten a healthier view of money. People think money makes life better. Yes, you’re free to get pretty much whatever you want, but it doesn’t mean life is necessarily better. I had a damn good time having so much money after robbing Peter to pay Paul, but the only thing it changed was why I stressed about financial issues. Instead of stressing about paying bills, I was stressing about people using me for cash. 😒 Like they say, “Mo Money, Mo Problems.”

The Money Mindset Gems 💎 

After attending several free classes & listening to podcasts, I’ve gotten a healthier view of money. 💰 One free class I took a few years ago was with The Budgetnista. She testified about how she became debt-free & gave out a copy of her budgeting tool. I haven’t stopped using it & have even recently added groceries, gas, & eating out to the spreadsheet. To see how much money we blow on gas & eating out is ridiculous! Shows me I have room to grow!

     Her budgeting tool inspired me so much that I added a variation of it to the Intentional Planner. Each month, along with your goals, there’s space to write out your budget & make sure all of your bills are paid on time. 🧾 Keeping those logs has helped me see where our money goes & how it can be funneled somewhere else. Please believe that the Washington crew will be switching some stuff up in 2025!

     I use a debt reduction app as well so I can see how long it’ll be before we can become debt-free. Unless those student loans are forgiven, it’s gonna be a looooooooong time. However, I’m sure it’ll work itself out eventually. It’s definitely not something I plan on stressing about though. 💁🏽‍♀️

     Social media has all types of gems to help you learn to do pretty much anything. Whether it’s someone who went to school for finance or learned the tricks to the trade during life experiences, use those free resources floating around. 🕴️Share them with your people so we can all develop a healthy money mindset.

     We all have the ability to have a healthy relationship with money. It just takes a little more work for some than for others. 🙋🏽‍♀️ I’m working on my money mindset though & am determined to change the game in the near future!