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This pastBlack Friday, I tasked myself with buying an entire new winter wardrobe.
Classen Rafael / EyeEm
But I made it through, the damage is done, and all is well.
Except for one thing: I havent checked my bank account since.
And its been weeks.
I wish I could say that this problem was unique to Black Friday.
Between paychecks, I simply practice what I jokingly call intuitive spending and hope for the best.
Why do so many of us torture ourselves with this paradoxical behavior?
Heres what I found out from the experts.
First, avoiding the contents of your bank account is completely normal.
Sometimes its people with multiple credit cards who dont want to see the damage added up in one place.
Sometimes its self-employed people and freelancers on an irregular pay schedule whose bank accounts are constantly in flux.
Limiting our awareness of upsetting, distracting, and potentially destabilizing information is a very human defense mechanism.
So, in moderation, avoidance can sometimes be a healthy adaptive response.
However, for a lot of us, this avoidance isnt a one-time thingits part of a whole cycle.
Which, yeah, sounds familiar.
Observe your spending habits without pressuring yourself to change them.
But while it may be uncomfortableand yes, anxiety-inducingit might help to think of it as exposuretherapy.
Its the first step in breaking the cycle, and itwillget easier with time, says Clayman.
If were on autopilot, what does that translate to in terms of money?
Get a glass of wine and a box of tissues, and rip the Band-Aid off, says McLay.
Try different ways of tracking your finances.
Okay, so what does keeping up on your financial awareness look like?
That said, everyone is different, and its very important to experiment.
), you shouldnt put a bunch of pressure on yourself to become a finance-tracking master.
If you’re free to only handle this monthly at first, so be it.
Make it as small as you might commit to, says Clayman.
Dont wait for this magical confluence of time and motivation to look at it, says Clayman.
Or time it to your mood.Hey, we did say that everyones different and this could take some experimenting.
Once you know what works for you, stick to it.
No matter your chosen method, the key is consistency, says Clayman.
Try a few financial exercises before jumping into a full budget.
If you run out of cash by Wednesday, itsNetflixand Chill the rest of the week, says McLay.
Consider exploring broader financial wellness.
Financial wellness isnt just numbers on a page and white-knuckled discipline, says Clayman.
