Uncensored Money Season Five: Do You Have Money Dysmorphia?
Melissa Browne: Ex-Accountant, Ex-Financial Advisor, Ex-Working Till I Drop, Now Serial Entrepreneur & Author, Financial Wellness Advocate, Living a Life by Design | 23/09/2024

Show Notes

Chances are, most of us know and understand the term body dysmorphia, but have you heard of money dysmorphia?

Now money dysmorphia isn’t a clinically diagnosed medical illness, but it’s a phrase coined by the internet to describe having a warped sense or understanding of your finances, which then in turn leads to irrational money decision-making. Sound familiar?

In this episode of Uncensored Money, Mel and Lawsie discuss the concept of money dysmorphia, from the types there are, to what to do if you have it.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode

• My Financial Adulting Plan

If you're on insta, come play over at @MelBrowne.Money and make sure you’re signed up to Mel's Money Musings for more tips, tricks and ideas on how to best work with your money.

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe and leave us a review.

Transcript

Mel: Hey everyone. I'm Mel Browne. I'm an ex-accountant and ex-financial advisor, so I have the theory, but I also have the life experience. I'm now financially independent in my own right after coming back from less than nothing in my early thirties. I want this podcast to be like a chat with your girlfriends about money. My aim is to help you discover why you're behaving the way you are with money, to suggest new ways you might behave that are a better fit for you, and to increase your financial literacy and financial confidence. I hope it inspires challenges, educates and empowers you with how you do money. So let's get into it. Welcome to Uncensored Money.

Mel: Chances are you've heard the term body dysmorphia, which is a mental illness involving obsessive focus on a perceived flaw in appearance. But what you may not have heard of is something called money dysmorphia.

Mel: Now, money dysmorphia is a phrase the internet has invented. So it's not a clinical diagnosed medical illness, but it's being used to describe having a warped sense or understanding of your own finances, which then in turn leads to irrational <laugh>. I'm going to use the word vibes based decision making. <laugh>. So you could have a healthy bank account, thriving investments and a really rock solid retirement plan, but still be plagued by a sense of scarcity or insecurity. That doesn't just mean you're a little bit worried but absolutely restricts you from enjoying your money where you are awake worrying are you gonna have enough or money to dysmorphia might be the opposite. Where your bank account and credit card balances are absolutely stretched to their limits. It's nothing in the bank account. Your credit card limits are at their limit, but you cannot stop making impulsive money decisions that stretches them further.

Mel: So money dysmorphia manifests in both ways. It's the person who had lots of money saved but doesn't believe it's enough and can't use it meaningfully. Or the person who overspends but doesn't believe the reality of their financial distress. And according to a survey by Credit Karma, over 40% of women have experienced some form of money dysmorphia and it's especially prevalent in Gen Z and millennials. And I guess if I think about that and think about the fact that millennials and Gen Z really have grown up with socials and that comparison and the really the will I be able to buy a house, et cetera, like I can imagine there's anxiety already with how we live today <laugh>, and then throw in that extra financial anxiety. But also after reading that description, I can definitely say that with the work I do, I've seen this a lot on both ends of the scale. So I have, but I've also seen women who earn $350,000 who do not think they have enough. Absolutely. Fundamentally don't think they have enough. I have seen women that are spending wildly outside of their capability and it's all just on credit and they do not wanna face their spending. Like I know in the work that I've done, I've seen it Lawsie, I mad like you would've seen this as well or versions of this.

Lawsie: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's important here just to highlight that what we're talking about is the extremists of the, the spectrum here. I think a lot of us live in the gray area.

Mel: Yes. The missing middle, you know? Yeah.

Lawsie: Yeah. Where people be like, oh, you know, I'm spending some money that I shouldn't have. Or I've got a little bit of credit card debt or I don't have credit card debt, but I'm not, you know, like all of these things. That's not the behavior that we're talking about here. We're talking really the extreme Yeah. Ends of the spectrum. So just, yeah. Before everyone's like, oh, this is what I've got <laugh>. Yeah. It is really looking at, you know, we are looking at the extreme ends, but I mean even recently we were at an event and I had someone come up to me and by all accounts, anyone talking to her would've gone, my God, I can't believe how well off you are.

Lawsie: Like she's done all the right things financially, she's got all these assets. Great net asset position. Like all of the things that so many people would be so enviable. Mm-Hmm. Looking at her and if they knew what she had yet, she was almost in tears because she's like, but I don't enjoy spending my, like, I feel so guilty to spend money. And that's that extreme that we're talking about where I was just like, wow, like hats off to you. Amazing. Like you've, you've built up this beautiful asset portfolio. Like you've obviously, you know, you've been spending less than you earn all of those things, but then your heart breaks when you just go, but you can't enjoy that. Yeah. And you feel so guilty at not being able to feel so guilty at spending money that you don't. And while that, you know, behavior is great in the sense of that's obviously what's helped her get to the position that she's in. You don't wanna be doing it at the expense that you can't actually enjoy. Yeah. Things and you know, I think there's for some of those, some of us that are in that gray session and we probably need to

Mel: <laugh>

Lawsie: Not be enjoying as many things and being a little bit more conscious about it. But again, it's just sort of highlighting that that can be the extreme of it. So yeah, absolutely. We've seen both ends, both ends of the scale.

Mel: And I guess if we look at the extremes, you know, if you've someone and I, this is where I think your money story really can have a, or how you've grown up can really have a lot of say in this. Certainly, you know, if you've grown up in financial precarity, you know, if you've grown up just not knowing if there's enough food in the household, you could have a healthy bank account. You could, as you said, you could have incredible investments but really be plagued by that sense of scarcity or insecurity that really restricts you from enjoying that money. The Atlantic calls it the phantom limb of poverty, which I really love that description. Like I can, you can really feel that and writer Damon Young calls it post brokenness stress disorder. But even and in the very first series of uncensored money I took to a whole bunch of people, a whole bunch of women, 11 different women about their money story.

Mel: And Karen James, who's an engineer who started women in focus in the Commonwealth Bank, talked about the fact that when she grew up they grew up with nothing. And she had an aunt or someone say to her, just be careful, you're gonna end up in the poor house. And she grew up thinking this poor house was a thing and she had to be incredibly careful 'cause she did not wanna end up there 'cause it sounded horrible. And I think again, it's being aware of that and it's being aware, I think because we don't talk about money because there's not enough a, a language around is this normal? Is that, is this not normal then if we are living in the extremes, we might think that's normal and actually it's not. You know, it's okay to enjoy today. It's okay to actually spend money on yourself. And we are gonna talk today about if you suspect you may have a touch of money dysmorphia what you could do about it. But was it's also on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Lawsie: Oh absolutely. And you know, and that's where you'll said, you mentioned it before, like when you've got your credit cards and I say credit cards because you generally would have more than one all maxed out. You've got no money in your bank account, you are scraping by to try and get from paycheck to paycheck and looking at what other things you can do to be really getting some money in so you can get that hit from spending. Like that's Yeah. Obviously the opposite end of the spectrum and can just be as damaging. Yeah. Like yes, financially, obviously people go oh, if you're in debt and if you can't get on top of things, like that's damaging, but it's the, you know, that is gonna be keeping you awake at night either 'cause you're so focused on, well how else can I get my next hit? Yeah. You know, from spending, you are not necessarily focused on the debt that's being racked up. You're probably trying to push that under the rug and not be thinking about it. So that's obviously gonna be having, you know, it's still that mental load that you're carrying and that, you know, all the other emotions and stuff that can come with that. Just like the others at the other end of the spectrum where they're just, they can't even spend the money. Yeah.

Mel: So, and I think with this extreme, there's a lot of shoulds, there's a lot of Yeah, yeah. But with this income that I'm on or with this, this position I have or this stage in life, I should be doing this. You know, I should be sending, I should be able to send my kids to private school. I should be carrying the latest bag, I should be going to to Europe with everyone else that seems to be there at the moment during winter. Like there's a lot of shoulds but you actually aren't stopping to figure out, actually this is is not right And this like, this is not the gray in the middle. I think people could be listening going, ah, that's me <laugh>. And if that's the case, absolutely. This is a more extreme of that. And I'm not even calling, you know, our ADHD peeps have a version of this, but it's more impulsivity so it's more Yeah, traits of it.

Mel: Exactly. It's that chasing that temporary dopamine rush which leave their savings depleted and impairs their ability to reach their financial goal. But that's more that impulsivity from that A DHD, then they know that it's problematic, they don't have money dysmorphia. So that's where it's really important to understand the distinction. But also if you are listening going, yeah, I've got a touch of this again, then it's about recognizing that and doing something about it because it's chasing the shoulds, chasing the, but I should be able to, isn't actually helpful and your money just morph for you of, oh, you know, but I'm, I'm at this age bracket now. This is just how it should be. Well actually that's not the case. And who said, and again, I distinctly remember a client back in the day who had to make the heartbreaking decision to pull two of her kids out of private school when we actually looked at her figures and she kept saying, yeah, but I should be able to have them there.

Mel: You know, this is just, you know, people around me that are, I'm sure on less income than me have that. But when we looked at it, it was like, yeah, you can't afford to and you're going into debt and you are robbing Peter to pay Paul for that. And yet she would've sworn black and blue that no, like I, I, I can do this. So I see that as a version of money dysmorphia that well you might think you can, but actually you can't. <laugh>. Yeah, <laugh>. I find it interesting though with this, this particular internet sensation that it primarily affects women rather than men. And that's certainly what the studies have thrown up. And I think I've talked before about Starling bank research, how there was a longitudinal study where they looked at content that was written for both men and women and to women it's, the language was very different. Like women spent, uh, women weren't frugal, like women just needed to worry about tightening their belt. And are overspenders, you know, there's, there's all these messages. Women spend too fearlessly. Women don't know how to invest. Women are too risk averse. But also the pressure to spend, you know, if I was to sit my husband next to me and say, right, describe how much it costs you to walk out the door. <laugh>. <laugh>,

Mel: We have very different costs and expectations. You know, everything from hair to skin products to makeup to even the pink tax for what my hair costs. I mean he doesn't have hair, but if he was a bloke what his hair would cost. Hashtag

Lawsie: Bald, sexy

Mel: <laugh>. Exactly. But also like there is just such a cost to being a woman and keeping up. So I think there is already that there. And I think if you are inclined to this, it's very easy for us to be susceptible and to think this is normal when actually it's not.

Mel: I don't know about you, but sometimes I wish there was an easy way, a silver bullet, a magical unicorn, a fairy godmother ready to grant me three wishes. I mean, think of all the miracle diets, fitness fads, promising a six pack in six weeks, or finance bros promising riches by following this easy formula. Do you believe a word of it?Well, the part that longs for a quick fix might be taken in, but you are smarter than that. Personally, what I believe in is consistency, educating myself, finding an expert to help me, surrounding myself with a community who are going to motivate me to keep going and make me feel like I can do it because they're doing it too or are further down the road than I am. That's exactly what we've created inside the My Financial Adulting Plan. If you feel like you're on top of your finances, you have a plan for this year that you're super comfortable with and have everything you need to make that happen, then just ignore this ad. But for the rest of you, make sure you check out my life-changing 12 week course or for less than the price of a cup of coffee a day. Head to the show notes to join the wait list for the next round. Or you might be lucky enough to find that the doors are open and you can join now.

Lawsie: And but I also would say with some of that though, there might be a little bit of the shoulds in it too.

Mel: Yes. Yeah, totally.

Lawsie: Yeah. I should look a certain way. I should be doing whatever. And so again, it is like, yeah not all of it. Like I'm absolutely very well aware that it costs very different, you know, to being, you know, male versus female. But some of that, I think for people as well, it's looking at, well they feel like they should look a certain way. And so that is absolutely gonna pile on more costs if you are leaning into that more heavily and haven't actually stopped to look at what is actually the right thing for you and what you want rather than feeling and sort of acting in a way that is in line with the shoulds with how you think you should look, how you should appear, all of those things. Yeah, no haircuts for you. That's what I'm saying.

Mel: Oh hell no. <laugh>

Mel: Bloody hell, I've got the hair of five people. My haircuts cost a fortune <laugh> that if you've been listening to us and you feel like you're an either the end of the spectrum, you're someone who is probably doing okay but you cannot claw those fingers off and be able to spend if you're someone who you know, you were just spending reckless. And it's just more than spending, it's spending where it's that extreme of it where you can't commit to goals because as soon as you've got the money there for something, you'll just grab it it and spend it. It's the extremes then what can you do about it? 'cause what we don't wanna do is just talk about this phenomenon and not give you some things to do in order to make sure that harm is minimized. And before we get into these four steps, what I will add, and I hadn't put this in there, is that if you don't think this is something you can face on your own, that's where I think there's a great place for therapy.

Mel: And I think using a therapist isn't talked enough about when it comes to money, but we don't live in a silo. So often things that might have happened to us or or our emotions or traumatic events, et cetera, will play on us. And often by treating those things it can ripple out to how we are behaving with our finances. So before we get into this, the four steps, you might try these four and then at the end go, you know what? I just need to go and talk to a a professional and I'm not talking about a financial planner, I'm talking about a <laugh> counselor or a psychologist. Psychologist. Yeah. And I'm such a, I don't think it's talked about enough, but I think that definitely, yeah, we don't live in silos, we don't operate in silos. So of course things that happen to us are gonna affect how we behave with food or exercise or our finances, relationships some more. So Ozzie, let's talk about how you would combat something like money DYS fora and surprise, surprise. It's going back to the basics.

Lawsie: It is indeed. So I think it's one of those things that this is applies for those of us in the gray zone. Yes. As well as those on the extremes. But particularly for those in the extremes, the first thing you really need to do is face where you are at honestly and do this regularly. Yeah. And I know we said it a bit earlier on, but particularly for those that are more of the, you know, compulsive spenders almost, and you know where the credit cards are max and all of those things, you are probably hiding from that. Like you just don't wanna know somewhere in the back of your mind you are con you know, that there is something there that you don't have the money, you've got credit card debts, but you're not facing it. And so I think the first thing is there that you need to actually face it, understand what it is and then obviously you're gonna be trying to work out to plan with that.

Lawsie: But it's also not just doing it once, it's not a set and forget it's going to be that you've gotta come back and look at it regularly. And I think it's figure out the people at the other end of the scale too. Yes. That this is super important because I think you are operating from this scarcity mindset despite whatever assets and cash and all the things that you might have behind you. And so checking in with that is actually a really good thing to be go. Oh yeah. It hasn't all just vanished overnight and it hasn't, you know, all of those things. But it is doing it regularly but not obsessively. Yes. So particularly, you know, like it's, you might not be going in and checking the value of your shares every single day if that's, you know, if that's one of the things that you are invested in because as we know, the share market prices change every second of the day, let alone. So you don't wanna be sort of piling on that stress of suddenly looking at it at 10:00 AM and you go, great, it's o it's wonderful once the market's open and then four o'clock, 12:00 PM and sky falling

Mel: Yeah.

Lawsie: Crashed and then you, you know, like that's just gonna really feed into that scarcity thing for you so regularly for, you might be looking at it once a month or once every three months. Like it's, it is a bit of a balancing act to find the right thing for you. But I think it's super important regardless of where you're at, you need to be in and looking at it and facing it and then just hopefully starting to detach from it a little bit where you start to get to that point where you're like it's a number and if we can try and remove some of the emotion from it, that will help Yeah. Help with everything with your finances. Whether you're sort of getting outta debt or whether you're still in that asset building phase.

Mel: Yeah, I can't agree with that more. The other thing that I would really recommend is inside the My financial adulting plan, we've got a document called How Much Is Enough. And we've had some people do that inside the program and realize, huh, I am gonna be okay. And it's the black and whiteness of that that's given them that con comfort factor. And they might need to put that on a wall somewhere and look at that regularly and often. But I can think of a couple of people instantly who said, huh, okay, right. Maybe I could relax my grip on things. So that would be for the extreme of I, I wanna hoard, but certainly I completely agree it's looking at it regularly. Um, two is figuring out what your values are and what your goals are. Because if your values are that you value freedom and choice that you know you value your independence and yet you are spending in such a way that you are robbing yourself of freedom and choice, then it's realizing that and then adjusting If one of your values is sustainability and the environment and, and not subjecting women to slavery, you know, the modern slavery movement and yet you are doing temu and sheen halls every other day 'cause you can afford to, then you are absolutely acting contrarily to that.

Mel: So again, this is, I think for this more than any other group, both values and goals are really important. And maybe putting, again, putting them up somewhere that you are gonna see them regularly and reminding yourself of that and the goals as well. Because I would say that for this group, for both extremes, it would be for the, those that won't spend it would be being really clear on what your goals are and putting dollars around it. So I wanna stop working by this date and have, you know, be able to spend $50,000 a year because then you can figure out if that's possible or not. If you said, oh I just wanna be comfortable when I start working, that's not enough. So for our hoarders extreme that way I think there needs to be real dollars around it. But for our goals, for our impulse spenders then I would say they need to be emotional.

Mel: So you have to connect with them. Otherwise you are not gonna give a crap and you are going to continue to impulse spend. So if you are just got goals because they seem like a good thing to have and you are not emotionally connected to them, then I would figure out how to, how to make them emotionally connected and gamify them. Make it so that you get your dopamine hit from that rather than from the spending because those temporary dopamine rushes that you're getting from spending, we can get that from putting gold stars around reaching savings, target or investing targets. But you gotta set that up in order for it to work for you.

Lawsie: Yeah and I think just adding on that too, that doing that sanity check and making sure that the goals are yours. Yes. And I know we've spoken about that recently, but again if you know, and particularly for those that are more, you know, likely to be spending and maxing out credit card limits and things, if you are still thinking about their, I've got a, you know, financial goal that I'm wanting to work towards whatever, and then you're engaging in this behavior that's contrary to that, yes there could still be something that's gotta be rewritten for you with that, but also question that goal and is that actually something that you're wanting to be working towards? 'cause chances are you're sabotaging Yes. Because that's not a goal that you, you know, believe in or that you want like your family, the, you know, typical example is always Oh but I have to have a house.

Lawsie: Yes. It's like, well do you? Yeah. And if your family and if there's so, you know, societal expectations for you is that I have to have a house and deep down you're like, I don't want a house, then you're gonna keep, how can you keep making sure you're not gonna be getting that house is obviously gonna be keep doing things. Whereas if you can change that and figure out what it is that you want, coming back to your point around having that emotional connection to it. Mm. Then I think that's what's also gonna be able to help. It's not to say that suddenly set yourself a goal and you'll be Yes. Oh we'll be hunky dory.

Mel: We know that's not the case. <laugh>,

Lawsie: But it's also a piece of the puzzle looking at it to make sure that it is the right, you know, those goals you are working for are the right thing for you.

Mel: Yeah. Number three is really important and that is to protect your finances from you. Because if you are the extreme spender, we wanna make sure you cannot access enough to spend that. You're gonna put yourself in in jeopardy. So no credit cards for you, no <laugh>, no buy now, pay later for you. Just make it a strict rule. I'm not gonna use any sort of bad debt whatsoever. Automate extreme automation. So automate so that you don't even have to think about it. Multiple bank accounts and I would be putting my buffer and my savings in another bank account hopefully with 24 hour access before I can touch it without card access. Just make it difficult for you and we'll talk about investing at the moment, but for you, part of your hiding from yourself might be investing because you know that if you've, if you are the sort of person that you know, I'm not gonna spend the money once it's in the share market.

Mel: Perfect. Like make that the thing. But again, for our ones that are, that are clawing and not spending, again, I would still do all of these things but you are protecting your finances from you is making sure that you spend, so I remember having a client back in the day that we created a fun account and we put money into that every single month. And her job was, she had to spend that every single month and it's almost like it's desensitizing you to spend so she wasn't allowed to spend it on kids or anyone else. It had to be spend on her. And she used to come back and talk to me about the guilt she felt and you know how it just felt so ick and yet after 12 months, I distinctly remember her, she'd gone out with a daughter somewhere and she came back and went and we had high tea and like it was just this really beautiful thing and I, I just remember thinking what a difference it was for when she started 12 months earlier. So for you it might have to be a bank account that is there and it doesn't exist just to build up and build up. That's the one that you have to spend and maybe it's a thing, it might not be every month but it might be by the end of every quarter it has to be gone. So <laugh> start spending it just, it might ha it mightn't be a lot of money, it might be a hundred bucks a month might be 500 bucks a month. But the deal is that has to go.

Lawsie: Yeah. And I think and learning to enjoy it as well because I think a lot and for those that you know do have all of the assets and cash and stuff behind them, the thing that they value is the experience. Yes. They're not so much buying stuff. That's one of the things is to have, you know, is obviously help them get to where they are but you wanna be able to enjoy it. Yeah. And so I think and be able to do it in a guilt free way. Like if you love having a barista make you a coffee.

Mel: Yeah.

Lawsie: Every day and that's your thing and you're like, you only allow yourself to do that once a week or you're only doing like stretch it to that and be like, do it. Yes. I'm actually gonna go do that free single day and I really enjoy that. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> or that you wanna be able to go out with friends once a week or once a month or to see a show and it just becomes, that's the thing where you go, well if that's gonna light you up, free the dollars to be able to do that. It doesn't just have to be I've got this money I have to go and buy Yes stuff, I'm gonna just walk into the shop and hope whatever sticks to me is what I'm buying. I agree. Like it's not that it's really

Mel: It could be starting with a daily coffee, I love that

Lawsie: we're trying to reset just that bringing that enjoyment back into spending and looking at it or even if it's things that just make your life easier whereas you might just go

Mel: Like a cleaner. Um

Lawsie: Yeah. Yeah. Or it's you know, getting your groceries delivered like

Mel: Yep,

Lawsie: Yes you're gonna pay for that service but if it saves you all the time of having to go and do all of those things and just gives you more time to do a free activity that you enjoy. Mm, perfect. So I think it's just sort of looking at it in different ways and being yeah okay that it is okay to spend but it's also I think making sure that those that are at the other end of the spectrum with the, you know, maxed out cards and no cash, it's making sure you still have allowed yourself something Yes. For that as well. Yeah. Because you are not going to love that restriction of going, I'm going hardcore, I can't spend a dollar now and that's how I'm gonna get rid of my credit cards. That's how I'm gonna build up cash in the bank. Yeah. 'cause we all know we're all gonna rebound from that.

Lawsie: Mm-Hmm <affirmative> like it's just not sustainable in the short term or and definitely not the long term. So it is again, like you said though, it's making sure that you don't have all your money sitting in one bank account because if they have all that it's like oh I could be tempted to be spending that rather than making sure it's going into repaying debt and building some savings and things, but still make sure that you're keeping a small amount for you. And yes you might not be able to have as much enjoyment and all those things as you would like at this point in time, but know that this is for a season but just give yourself that, making sure you've got some leeway with it so you can still spend some money guilt free in moderation. 'cause you are trying to learn the moderation of not, you know, spending everything that you get. It's well as the, you know, the other end of trying to learn that moderation. It's okay to spend. Yeah. Yeah. So I just think it's really important to do that but just figuring out what's the thing that's gonna work the best for you

Mel: And our final one that I alluded to is to invest. So for those that are already investing and have enough, it's doing that how much is enough? And you might have figured out I have, well more than enough but actually I'm gonna feel comfortable if I continue investing. So great I continue to invest, continue to do that. But just maybe lower it, you might split the difference and say I'm gonna put half of it into my everyday account and half of it I'm gonna keep investing. So there's no reason that you have to cut yourself off cold Turkey. But it's, it's making sure, I love your point Lawsie, to just start with small things like start with small little luxuries but for our other end of the spectrum it's hide your assets from yourself. You know, if you are going to dip into your savings account and you don't wanna buy the house and you wanna invest and it might be shares or it might be something else but figure out what it is.

Mel: If you are someone that you know that you just are not like every time you get a anywhere near a house deposit, you just whip it out and you just can't help yourself. Maybe talk to your mortgage broker about can I do this with a 5% or a 10% deposit? Because you might be great at paying down something like that once you've got it, but terrible at saving for it. So again, figure out what it is and if you can hide your money and that investing from yourself even and get that extra money into assets, then that might be uh, something where it forces you to have that bit of protection as well.

Lawsie: Yeah and I think for those that, 'cause obviously the, the cold and financial rules are generally, you know, make sure you pay off your bad debt, you wanna make sure you've got a buffer, that you've got savings behind you before you invest. But for those that are, you know, have got the maxed out cards and all those things, adding that investing in, even though it goes against the golden rules could be the thing that actually helps you. 'cause it would, you know, and you can do it with such small amounts. So again, going back to that thing around just doing little amounts, you can use roundups, you can use things like that where it's just, just the small spare change essentially that's getting invested. But if you can start to see that that's actually working for you and get used to that, like that might also help you go, oh wow, like I'm actually doing this thing that's for future me and I'm still spending in terms of money's going to it, but it's not just on stuff or on experiences and you know, causing me financial stress.

Lawsie: This is actually gonna help, you know, help me now and in the future. And that might also be a little bit of a motivator for you as well to go Yep. I know I've still gotta deal with getting rid of my debt and building up some savings and things. But if you can also have that little thing ticking along there for you, I think that will be really, yeah that is really helpful. Even though it is contrary to what the yeah. Step by step formula to get rich the system is. Uh, but I, yeah, I just think that can be a really nice way just to help sort of rewrite that for you.

Mel: No, I agree. So money dysmorphia, it's probably not something that you have heard before but hopefully for some of you it sparked within you that ha, that sounds a little bit like me. And if that is you then follow those four steps, do something about it. 'cause what we want you to realize is there is like normal is a cycle on a washing machine, but there are some things that aren't ideal and this sort of thing is not ideal. So if you've seen yourself in today, I encourage you to follow these four steps, encourage you to speak to someone if you need and actually take steps to do something about it.

Mel: If you enjoyed this episode, we would love it if you subscribed and give us a review, then make sure you come and play with me on Insta. I'm at @melbrowne.money Remember there's an E on the end of Browne. I'm one of those fancy Browne's, and don't forget to check out the show notes for even more ways you can work with me to transform your finances.

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