The Saver vs. Spender: Understanding Different Money Personalities 

When you think about the most important aspects of your personality, you might jump to things like whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, and what sparks your sense of humour. But what about your money personality? 

Everyone has one, and it might be driving more of the decisions you make in life than you realise. 

 What sort of money personality are you? 

There is a lot of debate about how many different money personalities there are, but at the most basic level it tends to boil down to one showdown: Savers versus spenders. 

Some people are just more comfortable when they know they have money in the bank and enjoy the process of seeing that grow over time, sometimes with some investing in the mix, too. 

But other people enjoy spending the money they have and don’t see as much need to provide for a future rainy day. 

There is no “right” way to be, and often our money personalities are shaped by our experiences growing up and how our parents thought about money.  

Is there a clash? 

For lots of people, the first time they contemplate their money personality is when they encounter someone close to them with an opposing view. 

Maybe a significant-other moves in and cannot understand why you’re living on home brands and refusing to eat out while saving half your pay cheque. Or a partner gets antsy about the number of online shopping deliveries coming to the door. 

But all is not lost. If you’re in a situation where you’re a spender and your partner is a saver, or vice versa, there are a few things you can do. 

• Talk it through. Understanding where each person is coming from is a good place to start and can help guide your future interactions. 
• Compromise. You’re probably never going to turn a spender into a saver, but if you’re combining finances, you may be able to agree on a set level of spending each week or month that you’re both comfortable with. 
• Set targets and goals together so the saver can still feel they are making progress. 

Sometimes this process will include challenging some of the assumptions that you‘ve built up about money. 

Gently testing some of your thought processes and delving a bit into why you hold the beliefs you do can be really interesting. 

Making the most of it 

There will usually be benefits to your individual money personality, whatever it is.  

Sometimes spenders are also risk-takers who might spot a good investment. Maybe they get a seriously saving spouse to lighten up and have a bit more fun. 

On the flipside, spenders can be amazed at what savers can achieve, particularly over a longer term when the returns start compounding. 

Ready to talk? 

If you’ve got some goals in place but need a bit of finance help to get there, drop us a line. We’re big fans of helping people make good decisions.  

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