4 Common Money Myths

Money doesn’t escape the usual myths and misconceptions associated with it.

1. Money is the root of all evil: This is a common myth caused by misinterpreting bible. We shouldn’t behave as if evil comes from money. It is only tool and money can become the source of pure goodness if we obtain and use it in a perfectly good way. In fact, people who despise money and don’t provide adequate for the whole family could attract all the bad things, such as conflicts and hardships. Money is neutral, it can be used for good or evil purposes. For this reason, we need to wisely use money. It shouldn’t become our idol and we shouldn’t become its slave. If we do that, money could only bring bad things in our lives.
2. Money is easy to manage: It is true that managing money shouldn’t be hard, but if it is easy to manage, people won’t have money problems. Although there are easy steps to manage money, we should stop and think to know how we actually manage money. Many of us want to pay university fees, clothes, house and car. These are expenses that we may need to deal with. When we spend a lot of money, we need to have commitment and perseverance in managing money. Unfortunately, not everyone can do this. There are lifestyle decisions that require us to spend a lot of money.
3. It is easy to make rational choices when spending money: Unfortunately, when we understand buying patterns among consumers, it is easy to see that they don’t really make rational choices. When people take vacations, it isn’t really a rational choice. They know that it is the kind of expense that won’t bring them more money or give them tangible items, like cars and clothes. However, irrational spending represents much of the global economy, so we should accept the fact that we can be perfectly irrational when we spend money. By understanding our irrationalities, we will be able to manage how we spend money.
4. We will always save money during sale: If we spend $100 and the average sale price of the item is 50 percent off, do we save $100? In reality, we save nothing. We still spend $100. We save money only if we plan to re-sell the item for profit in normal market prices. Although we don’t plan to sell the item, we could save money when we do need it and we buy at the usual quantity. The money is saved if the excess money is placed in savings account and investment platforms. During sales, we should understand whether we really save some money. We could actually end up buying items that we don’t need and we can’t call this a saving.

Money should be seen as a freeing tool. It should become an indicator on our financial safety. We should have estimates, plans and goals, so we shouldn’t negate them by adopting these myths.