Personal Narrative: My Personal Money Scripts

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My personal money scripts mainly come from the emotions connected to my personal experiences. Throughout this class I began realizing that I look at money in a more careful way than I should, but until reading this book I did not know that I was actually beginning to question my money scripts. In Chapter 1, a money scripts questionnaire was presented, and I rated “strongly agree” or “agree” to five key choices: it is important to save for a rainy day, I have to work hard to be sure I have enough money, I deserve money, more money will make you happier, and things would get better if I had more money. After identifying these key money scripts that I hold, I realized that the majority of my money beliefs have been somehow internalized through …show more content…

The first script I identified is Poor Script 3: “More money will make you happier.” I found myself lining up to an extent with the associations of hoarding and workaholism. Poor Script 6: “Things would get better if I had more money” also spoke to me, and I am currently in the age range of those who express this belief more. Overspending is associated with Poor Script 6, and I have plenty of life experience with buying, or at least wanting, more than I need. Because of my Bipolar II disorder, I often spend my “manic highs” feeling an excessive urge to shop. When I get this way, I participate in retail therapy and have a hard time denying myself wants. I have found it easier to deal with, but I still enjoy how “good” it makes me feel. This also flows into compulsive shopping, where I end up buying things I do not need and that will sit around my room just to be forgotten about and not used for years. Afterwards, though, I often feel guilty for spending so much money, but cannot bring myself to return anything. I hope to reduce my desire to shop, but at this time I do not have a plan as to how. I would like to eliminate the looming desire to spend and the beliefs about money I have so that I can accumulate wealth and be financially successful in my adult