What’s Your Spending Language?

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You may have heard about love languages, but have you ever heard of spending languages? Maybe not because as far as I know, I came up with this idea all on my own.

What is a spending language?

A spending language is simply the rationale behind why you spend the money you spend. It is highly likely that you speak more than one spending language at a time, that you fluctuate in and out of various spending languages, and that you may speak all of these at one time or another.

No worries if you find yourself in more than a few of these spending languages. Actually, I do too, have spoken nearly all of these at various times.

Why does this matter?

This matters because speaking these various languages can get us into trouble. This happens because when you and I are spending while speaking a certain language, it is more than likely something that we are doing without even noticing, which means we are spending mindlessly.

Think about it.

If English is your native language, how often do you think of the grammar and sentence makeup of every word you speak? My guess is not very often. In fact, I know that the words I speak usually flow effortlessly from my mouth since I have been speaking English for more than 40 years now.

Spending languages work in the same manner. The more fluent you are in a spending language, the more effortlessly you are going to spend money while speaking that language.

Ok, now that we have that settled, let me ask you…

What’s your spending language?

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1. Can’t pass up a deal

If this is your language, you have a hard time saying no to a great deal, even if you never even thought about purchasing this item before. If this is you, a good deal is almost always a deal worth taking advantage of.

2. Trying to fill a need

If this is your language you spend because if you were being honest, you are trying to fill a need that should be met in another way. Maybe you have a struggling marriage, issues with self image, or just try to whisk away a bad day by spending. No matter the need, you are spending to fill a different need.

3. Emotional spender

If this is your spending language, you spend money based on whatever you were feeling in the moment. Happy, sad, worried, the emotion doesn’t really matter, all that matters is that an emotion of some kind triggers you to spend.

4. Wanting the latest and greatest

If this is your language, the newest thing is always the best thing, and there is no waiting for it. At least not that often. If it’s the newest thing, it is something you need.

5. Wanting to keep up with the Joneses

This is your language if you are easily forced to purchase in an effort of what those around you have. This could again mean that you are buying something you never even thought of before, but you are buying it simply because someone else did.

6. If it’s easier to buy new than make something else work

If this is your language, you rarely repurpose anything, put much time or effort into fixing things, and hardly ever just make due. It’s always just easier to throw money at it.

7. Impulse buying

The opportunities to be an impulse buyer are everywhere online and in the store, and these impulse buys can be really hard to resist. Marketing pros know just what makes us tick, and we are very easily a sucker for the impulse buy.

8. Being gullible

If this is your language you often fall victim to whatever it is that is going to solve some sort of problem in your life. In fact, you might even buy something to fix a problem you never knew you had just because you are gullible in whatever someone is selling you! If this is you, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s a reason why salesman are among the highest paid professionals.

9. Being afraid to say no to yourself or someone else

The word no can be so hard, especially when our loved ones are looking at us with those big puppy dog eyes…or maybe you have a really hard time telling yourself no! No is a good word to learn for so many reasons, especially when this is your native spending language.

10 Getting your sense of security or identity from what you have

If this is your language, the way you see yourself is largely related to the things you own, the things you buy, the frequency in which you buy them, and something that leaves you feeling completely unable to see yourself through a different lens. This, too, is fairly common, and it can get you into a lot of trouble.

What do you think, do any of these describe you? If they do, I know you and I aren’t the only ones.

Knowing your spending language is a very important way to help keep your budget in check. When you do, you can take an honest accounting of your motivation behind everything you buy to ensure that you’re not buying something for a reason you shouldn’t.