“I like to keep a certain kind of lifestyle.”

The only thing we love more than money is avoiding it.

We each have a unique way we self-sabotage our finances, but I’ve found we generally fall into 1 of 6 buckets.

This Money Personality series is going to explore each one. We’ll cover:

• What this personality is like

• How it’s impacted by the money foundation you grew up with

• Actions you can take to fight your worst money habits

This week, let’s meet The Burner.

This week, meet:

➡️ The Burner
➡️ The Foundation
➡️ The Way Out
➡️ Budget Bites

The Burner

Type: The Burner

Money Philosophy: Debt Fallback

The Burner feels they’ll never make enough money no matter what, so they might as well just go all out anyway. More than the other types, the burner tends to run toward debt as a solution. Whether it’s a hedonistic lack of control in buying luxuries, or simply an unwillingness to sacrifice basic comforts on a low income, the Burner eventually finds themselves saddled with more debt than they know how to deal with, further confirming their belief that they’ll “never make enough money” to survive in this world anyway.

What you’ll catch the Burner saying:

• “Everything’s too expensive anyway.”

• “I can’t really afford it, but I want it.”

• “Use this card… no wait, use this one, that other one is maxed out.”

• “I like to keep a certain kind of lifestyle.”

• “Money’s, like, fake anyway. It doesn’t matter.”

The foundation

There are also 6 Money Foundations.

This is what you watched happening with money in your family — and more importantly, how that’s shaped you as an adult.

The thing is, the 6 personalities don’t each have a corresponding foundation.

It’s not a prescription (ie, you grew up THIS way, so you were bound to turn out THAT way as an adult). But it’s more like a motivation (ie, you grew up this way, and that informs why you turned out the way you did).

So let’s look at the 6 Money Foundations AND how a Burner could spring from each one.

Finish the sentence:

Growing up, money was…

1. Fun, because we had plenty.

   The Burner with this upbringing has always had seemingly endless money to burn. Anytime they blew through an imposed budget, they could reach out their hands for more money to replace what was already spent.

2. Scarce, because we didn’t have a lot.

   If money was scarce growing up, the Burner has always felt that “burning a hole in my pocket” feeling whenever they did come into a bit of cash. Payday = celebration day.

3. Elusive, because my family was bad with it.

   The Burner probably watched family members spend everything they got, pretty soon after they got it. Monkey see, monkey do - even if they still ended up living a life of poverty over it.

4. Stressful, because it caused a lot of fights.

   The Burner can get nihilistic about how much money trouble causes. There’s no way for everyone to be happy anyway, so I’m just gonna do whatever I want to do.

5. Encouraged, it was a game to be played, a reward to be won.

   The Burner raised this way is constantly in search of MORE money to burn. Bigger amounts, riskier ways to spend it for bigger returns.

6. I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it.

   This Burner might just be doing the best they know how to do… They’re not sure how everyone else is possibly doing it, so credit cards seem like as good a solution as any.

The way out

When you’re ready to get your finances figured out as a Burner, you have two main problems: 1) how to get out of the credit card cycle, then 2) how to pay off your existing debt.

Action: There are 3 main steps the Burner needs to take to solve these problems:

1. Get your spending under control. Steps 2 & 3 are pointless if your spending habits aren’t addressed. Expense-tracking is one way to do this. The Burner needs to find the honest answer to the question: “How much is 1 month’s worth of bare-bones expenses for me?”

2. Build an emergency fund with 1 month’s worth of bare-bones expenses. Once you have awareness of your spending, the only way to get ahead of the credit card cycle is to have an emergency fund to dip into instead. When you can’t afford the random things life throws at you, it’s easy to fall back on credit cards. Then it’s a slippery slope you can’t climb back out from. If you can fall back on your OWN savings when life is thrown at you, you can stand on your own two feet rather than depending on interest-sucking cards.

3. Pay down credit. Once you have your own fund to dip into for emergencies, you can re-focus the amount you were putting into savings on paying down the debt. This will be a long, at times painful journey, that will only happen if the Burner’s set a good foundation with Step 1.

“Wait, I need MORE”

A couple things happening in the Meet Your Money world:

• More budget breakdowns and real talk on finances here on the newsletter & on socials. Completely free, always.

• Budget Club. Twice monthly. Currently at my house. With my friends. You’re not invited. (I hope to make this a recurring, free, online event soon… Stay tuned!)

• And coming soon — templates and 1:1 consulting time for those who need a little extra nudge.