Has Money Got You Down?

The economy being what it is, there aren’t many who have not been adversely affected financially in recent years. For some it’s a struggle to make ends meet, for others it’s a constant source of worry about the future. Grandchildren of the depression, we grew up in an era of relative abundance. Many of us have not had a comfortable relationship with money and struggle still to find a place of comfort.

Our parents were likely frugal and as a result, we cut loose at some time or other and indulged ourselves. Material abundance became more the norm than ever before in our country’s history. Two family incomes produced more disposable income and everywhere we looked it seemed that people were doing “well”.  We even expected that we should be able to afford designer clothes, music lessons and summer camp for our children and exotic vacations, an addition to our house and a new car for ourselves.  Life was good, but it would get better.

It’s no wonder that many of us are shaking our heads and saying to ourselves, what happened? It’s not supposed to be like this! A new research study was released by The Pew Research Center yesterday outlining the financial woes of the sandwich generation. A negative take on the burdens we carry are certainly the societal norm. I think there is more to it and if you click on the link above you can read a bit about my perspective.

Getting a handle on our relationship with money is no easy matter for women. We don’t have generations of experience and education on earning and spending as do men. We are confused about our value in the market place, sometimes placing too low a value on our work and sometimes too high. Guilt or embarrassment is often a factor.  I recently enjoyed reading a book I was asked to review on this topic by Joe Duran called The Money Code.  It was a quick, easy read but it offered valuable insight into discovering one’s style of spending and how to work with it.

Money makes the world go around, but it doesn’t bring us happiness. In some respects we probably just have to learn to live with that.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

© Dorothy Sander