Know Yourself Know Your Money is a great follow-up (although it’s not intended as such) to the original Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. If you’re new to the Ramsey Debt Snowball method, you can learn about it in my post here.
Know Yourself Know Your Money is written by Ramsey Personality and Financial Expert Rachel Cruze and Dave Ramsey’s daughter.
This book is an excellent adjunct to the Total Money Makeover. If you’re already working the debt snowball method and ready to dive deeper into why you spend money the way you do and how to understand how your behavior got you into the mess you’re in, then this is for you.
Are you working on paying off your debt and still find yourself falling into old spending habits? Are you still shopping and buying clothes (that are not budgeted to be spent) and other things you don’t need because you’re tired of using every dollar to pay off debt? Do you ever wonder why you’re sabotaging your financial success?
Then Know Yourself Know Your Money is the book for you.
What I found most interesting is how we learn how to handle our money and how we feel about money from our upbringing. Doesn’t everything worth learning always go back to our childhood?
You’ll discover how you view money based on your childhood and watch how your parents dealt with or didn’t deal with money. How did your family communicate about money? Were they anxious, unstable, unaware, or secure? You’ll read through each of these types of households and find which best describes you and your home.
It’s interesting to learn about yourself and connect how you’ve subconsciously learned to view money in the same way as your parents, thus impacting your current financial state.
7 Types of Money Tendancies
This book breaks down seven types of money tendencies or how you spend your money. This will help you learn how you spend or don’t spend your money.
They are:
- Saver or Spender
- Nerd or Free Spirit
- Experience or Things
- Quality or Quantity
- Safety or Status
- Abundance or Scarcity
- Planned Giving or Spontaneous Giving
The book talks about the top 6 money fears most of us have; you may have one or two or more. You’ll also discover how to overcome these fears. The truth is we all have a fear of money, whether it’s not having enough or fear of being like our parents. This book will help you face those fears and help you figure out how to address them, so they no longer hold you down.
Money Fears:
- Not having enough
- Fear of not realizing your dreams
- Fear of not being capable
- External forces
- Fear of past mistakes
- Fear of repeating the past
After discovering my money fear and why I spend money the way I do, I can tell you that it opened my eyes so much. It was as if something clicked, and I made the switch to see the mistake I was making with money.
I fear not having enough, and using a credit card was my safety net. I learned that the only thing I need to do not use that card is to have the amount of cash I think I need to have on hand to make me feel secure. Once I figured out the amount wasn’t much, the fear was less significant. It was not worth the amount of anxiety I was carrying around.
My fear has been unfounded; nevertheless, it was there. Perhaps it came from hearing my parents budget the money out for groceries and not having enough or making it stretch; this was my fear too. So I carried my credit card as my security blanket. Except in having it, I used it more than I should have; we’re currently working on the debt snowball steps.
Address Your Money Fears
Rachel Cruze discusses how to figure out and address these fears. What did I need to do to keep myself from feeling this way? The answer was to carry a set amount of cash for these encounters. That has been my fear. Easily solved by maintaining a specified amount (you have to determine the amount for yourself) to make me mentally feel secure. I was making it easier to take that credit card out of my wallet and not use it anymore. Then your fear goes away.
We all have different fears, but this was mine, and I didn’t realize it until it was broken down step by step. Even if you get one thing from this book to improve your financial freedom, it is totally worth it.
If learning about your money fears and how to break those fear down isn’t enough to check out this book, then maybe discovering what motivates you to spend money will. Once you address your fear, you’ll learn why you buy what you do.
Why Do You Spend Money the Way You Do?
Do you buy stuff to impress others? Are you spending your hard-earned money on things you don’t like to keep up with the Joneses? Or are you content with your life and purchasing things that bring value and joy to your life and not someone else’s idea of what you should have? Learn how Minimalism can also impact your finances and decrease all the unnecessary stuff in your life.
There is so much to learn about yourself and your money in this book that it is worth taking the time to read. Even re-read like I’m doing to absorb some of the lessons again. This is your year to take back your money and change your family tree, as they say at Ramsey.
Get this book to start decoding your money habits and start building your wealth now! You may also be interested in these 7 money tips to quit doing.
Looking for more books to read? Check out 3 Easy To Read-Feel Good Books, 3 Must-Read Books for Empaths. Don’t forget you can easily listen to these books on Audible while on the go!
I wish you financial peace and guidance on your journey. Take care and be well.
UPDATE 12/19/2021
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when starting your financial wellness journey. My biggest tip is to accept where you are right now and know that you are on your way to being debt-free and gaining financial wellness. That will look different for each of you.
Focus on your path and each step to being financially well.
