How to talk about money? Because it’s so difficult to talk about money, people often don’t talk about it. After all, it’s often said that people find it easier to talk about sex rather than talk about money. Tips about how to talk about money One of the big challenges is that people rarely talk [...]

The psychology of money can be hard to understand. Why do we spend the way we spend? Why do we save? Why might two siblings see money so differently? What do you think about money? How do you feel about money? What influences the psychology of money? Although it’s a big topic, Money Habitudes makes [...]

Money personality is important, but what is it? In the same way that people have different personalities, we also all have a different money personality. We all see and relate to money in different ways. But how do you know what your money personality is? A money personality test While you may have a sense [...]

Financial education programs can be hard to fill up. Here are some ideas to increase attendance in financial education classes: Frame it differently. Attending financial education programs can be seen as “being in trouble.” Because no one wants to be “in trouble,” people are not likely to come to a financial literacy class. So you [...]

The goal of supportive housing and transitional housing programs is to provide housing. But organizations providing housing assistance often also provide financial literacy education. Why? Because people who need housing assistance typically need more than just housing assistance. With an asset building approach, transitional housing programs also teach clients how to make smarter financial choices. [...]

A number of libraries offer financial literacy classes using Money Habitudes through FINRA grants and the Smart investing@your library® initiative. One such institution is the Jackson District Library, Jackson, MI. FINRA grants for financial literacy classes at libraries FINRA is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. FINRA’s Investor Education Foundation and the American Library Association (ALA) are [...]

Billed as a “fun interactive way to talk about the difficult topic of money in a fun, nonjudgmental and constructive way,” this is an example of an Extension workshop based on Money Habitudes. A way to engage a new audience on career choices and financial education, this money values workshop goes beyond using Money Habitudes [...]

This “Relationship with Money” workshop was geared for career and workforce development professionals. In this train-the-trainer case sponsored by Career Counselors Consortium Northeast, it is professionals who are exploring the relationship with money; many other Money Habitudes career classes reach end-user students or clients. Identifying Your Client’s Relationship with Money Title: Money Habitudes: Identifying Your [...]

This marriage education program in Melbourne, Australia uses Money Habitudes cards. Put on by CatholicCare, it highlights the importance that money plays in couples’ relationships. Talking about money in a marriage education program This class shares some similarities with other marriage and relationship classes that use Money Habitudes cards. For therapists and marriage and relationship [...]

In order to show how organizations really use Money Habitudes cards in employee benefits workshops, here’s an example of a financial seminar for university employees, at West Virginia University. Many Money Habitudes financial education classes are taught by Extension educators. For financial educators, there are a number of case studies that highlight how Money Habitudes [...]

In order to show how organizations really use Money Habitudes cards in financial workshops, here’s an example of an upcoming financial seminar in Bloomington, Illinois. It’s taught by an Extension educator and will be conducted at a bank. For financial educators, there are a number of case studies that highlight how Money Habitudes is being [...]

We just won an Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Award (EIFLE) for our financial literacy curriculum. The awards are given by the Institute for Financial Literacy. Awards were presented at the Annual Conference on Financial Education. Money Habitudes Financial Literacy Curriculum: Overview Our financial literacy curriculum for teens is Money Habitudes: How to be Rich [...]

We’ve been posting some examples of how Money Habitudes users actually use the financial cards in workshops,  financial planning seminars, counseling sessions, etc. This is an example of a Financial Lifestyle Planning Workshop in Tampa, FL. The  financial planning seminar, Financial Lifestyle Planning Workshop: Will I Be OK?, will be conduced by Holly P. Thomas. Thomas [...]

When it comes to understanding spending habits, people often forget that they are just that: spending habits. What is a habit? an acquired behavior pattern that is followed regularly so that it is almost involuntary Examples of spending habits Spending habits are often contextual. You spend the same way with the same set of conditions. [...]

Like other colleges, Texas Tech understands that it’s important to introduce people to personal finance early in their lives. And Texas Tech also understands that it’s important to make personal finance fun, approachable and relevant. College Financial Education Week Red to Black is an outreach initiative of Texas Tech’s Personal Financial Planning group. This year [...]

Here’s a real money personality type assessment using the Money Habitudes card sorting process: That’s me (statements that describe my money personality type) Targeted Goals 9 Selfless 4 Security 2 Status 1 Free Spirit 0 Spontaneous 0 sub-total 16 That’s not me (statements that do not describe my money personality type) Free Spirit 8 Spontaneous [...]

Here’s a real example of how a community college is developing a financial education workshop. It’s based on using Money Habitudes cards: Harper’s Money Smart Week presents: Money Habitudes for Students When:Tuesday, April 24, 2012 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Cost: FREE Money Habitudes is a fun and easy way to discover the role money [...]

Financial literacy may not be a graduation requirement at a university, college or community college. However, it is important that students have real financial capability. Why does personal financial literacy matter for university and community college students? According to the 2008 Jump$tart Coalition personal financial literacy survey, funded by Merrill Lynch Foundation, high school seniors [...]

Prisoner reentry programs often include personal financial education within a variety of other life skills classes. This may be in prisons, jails or community programs. They may include money management in a variety of ways, but the rationale is much the same: Why prisoner reentry programs include personal financial education: With most offender reentry programs, [...]

Couples often find themselves engaged in a money fight. To this end, fighting about money comes up in two recent surveys: Yahoo! Finance Financially Fit Survey from Yahoo! and Fitness Magazine (November 2011) YourTango.com Survey Both reassert what we already know: often couples fight about money. Further, it’s difficult for couples to talk about money. [...]

There are a variety of personality tests and inventories that are used in marriage and relationship education. A popular one is Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages. As the book explains: As people come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes, so do their choices of personal expressions of love. But more often than not, the giver [...]

Many financial articles begin, “Start by talking about money with your spouse, partner or fiancé.” Much of the advice from financial professionals also begins this way. It may be, “You should talk about money and then … make a budget.” enroll in a debt management course.” take the following steps to work on your family’s [...]

Money management games help people learn better ways to spend and save. Popular money management games include the Stock Market Game and a variety of offerings developed by Cooperative Extension (such as the Allowance Game). Yet, personal finance is often taught not with interactive games and relevant scenarios. Instead, many classes and seminars that teach [...]

Having already covered financial education classes and career workshops, this post addresses how Money Habitudes is used in a marriage or relationship class on finances. The example is drawn from a relationship class about money, done by the Portland Relationship Center in Oregon. (A similar, shorter Money Habitudes-based relationship class happened to be posted online [...]

I just posted that Money Habitudes cards are used all the time in a variety of financial education seminars, job classes and the like. Well, here’s a good example of a career workshop using Money Habitudes. In this case, it’s a career seminar called “Money Habitudes: A Workshop for Identifying How Money Affects Career Decision, [...]

This is a common example of how community organizations use Money Habitudes cards in their financial education classes. Although we often hear about such financial education classes, in many cases, they are never posted online and we’re not aware of them. There’s probably someone running a financial capability class every day somewhere using Money Habitudes. [...]

The American Psychological Association (APA) just released its report: Stress in America: Our Health At Risk. Of course, the number one cause of stress is money. What’s Causing Stress in America? The APA stress report finds sources of stress are: money stress (75 percent) work stress (70 percent) economic stress (67 percent) stress from relationships [...]

What is your Money Personality Type There are a number of money personality types and money psychology personality tests that exist. All speak to the psychology of money, recognizing that our spending and saving often has a habits, attitudes, emotions and values component, rather than simply a logical and rational one. Money is an emotional [...]

Want a divorce? Why couples get divorced? There are a lot of reasons for divorce. However, studies show the most common reason why a husband and wife fight, go to marriage counseling and end a marriage is money. According to PayPal’s third annual “Can’t Buy Me Love” survey, the top reasons why couples fight are: [...]

Financial education, boring classes and ice breakers Both students and teachers know that it’s often hard to make money and finances interesting. And financial education classes suffer from low turnout or enrollment. Even when participants show up,  they come away thinking that the material was boring or at least not fun. Of course it’s hard to [...]

Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s a recognition of the role of money in marriage. We see an increasing number of Catholic archdioceses, dioceses and parishes including instruction on finances in their marriage prep or Pre-Cana classes. It’s not surprising. After all, money is the number one cause of arguments among couples (more than chores [...]

The latest issue of the Financial Therapy Association’s Journal of Financial Therapy just came out. The association and journal are concerned with the link between personal financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors and personal and family well-being. The assimilation speaks to the: financial planner, financial educator, therapist, financial manager, financial therapist, money coach, etc. Two new articles of note: THE FINANCIAL CREDIT PROFILE OF [...]

Just heard about Tweet What You Spend on the radio. While it’s not what I thought it was originally, it does address a real issue: cash tracking. (Granted, if you’re going to pull out your phone and open Twitter and then type in a note about what you’ve spent, it’s probably just as easy to use [...]

Ramit Sethi uses some of Carl Richards’s simple economics diagrams to illustrate the psychology of investing and why it’s hard to get ahead of the cycle as he looks at Buying High and Selling Low. It’s amazing how powerful “napkin sketches” can be when done by someone who can explain them. Of course, this is part of a larger [...]

The holiday shopping season recently past, this article in the Vancouver Sun offers some insight into the beast that is gift giving. We all have different philosophies on giving gifts. Some may not give at all. Some may give lavishly. Some may give to gain influence or so they will be accepted by others (what [...]

This is a topic that seems to get revisited every year around Black Friday and the holiday shopping season: Can money buy happiness? This recent iteration from The Oklahoman has Bill Sones and Rich Sones writing that: While it’s true the wealthy are happier than the poor and wealthy countries are happier than poor ones, [...]

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) is really well respected in the field of unbanked and underbanked financial services. An interesting quote in advance of the meeting that highlights the role of habits and attitudes in relation to serving underserved financial populations: “During the Underbanked Experience, Exchange participants will put themselves in the shoes [...]

In her “Top 9 Money Questions to Ask Your Partner Before You Get Married,” Maria Lin (@marialinnyc) says: “Before marriage, all kinds of lovely conversations ensue: How many kids? What should we name them, Jayden or Hayden or Payden? Where should we live, Paris or Wyoming or Sao Paolo? Beach house or woodsy cottage? Dog [...]

Findings from Bank On It: Thrifty  Couples Are The  Happiest: Newlywed couples who take on substantial consumer debt become less happy in their marriages over time. By contrast, newlywed couples who paid off any consumer debt they brought into their marriage or acquired early in their marriage had lower declines in their marital quality over [...]

From the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy … Scholars at Brigham Young University studied 1,734 married couples across the United States. Each couple completed a relationship evaluation, part of which asked how much they value “having money and lots of things.” The researchers’ statistical analysis showed that couples who say money is not important [...]

In this article, Nancy Anderson, a Forbes contributor, identifies the “5 Financial Mistakes That Ruin Your Marriage” as: Materialism – valuing “things” or money over the relationship. Having conflicting money values. Adopting traditional roles when they don’t fit. Having opposing money styles. (It is not uncommon to see financial opposites attract one another.  Couples often have [...]

Dr. Nando Pelusi, contributing editor to Psychology Today magazine and a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice inNew York City, continues with this November series on what’s trending in therapy. This week: money, politics, and couples. An interesting discussion about how the economy reveals implicit assumptions about money between couples.

A TED talk with behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman on “Experience vs. memory” On a related note, this recent story, “Behavioral Economics Foils an Obama Tax Cut?” from Bloomberg BusinessWeek mentions an early experiemtn done by Kahneman and Amos Tversky: They presented people with a scenario: As you enter a theater, you realize you have lost [...]

From ESPN.com, Tom Haberstroh’s “The predictably irrational NBA lockout” takes a look at how emotions around money come into play in basketball as seen in the NBA lockout… Ariely interpreted this phenomenon as an example of the endowment effect, an imperfection of the human mind that causes people to believe the things they possess are worth more [...]

We use six Money Habitude types (in a fun and easy-to-use hands-on card game format) to help people better understand how they relate to money and to better comprehend the role it plays in their lives (and the lives of those around them), but some other systems use different personality typing methodologies. Scott and Bethany [...]