Do you know what your spender personality is? Many times, I have heard people say that that “don’t earn sufficient money so that can save etc. and my income is so low, I could not even think about financial planning”. On the flip side, some earn sufficient money, still they could also not think about financial planning and my discretionary expenses are so high. In the both cases, same personality emerges which is “SPENDER PESONALITY”.
I advocate always “Incomes are always never higher”.
Let me give a hint!. Sameer earns a lot of money, but his financial life is not that great, the main reason is that he is too conservative with his investment and all his money lies in Cash in the Bank, that’s all. This happens due to his internal design of being a “SPENDR”. His life is all about spending and only spending their comes his spender personality because idle cash in hand or at bank always creates impulsive purchases. Let’s more explore more on this.
What’s your Type?
We have identified that each one of us have a spender personality which we develop during our life that our actions are given by our spender personality, even our financial life is driven by it and the product we choose, the way we look at each and every aspect is result of what spender personality we have. Over the last few years, when we interacted with dozen of clients, and colleagues like you, we identified that each one of us can be categorized in the following spender personalities which we will discuss today.
Recognize yourself that most closely matches your behaviour.
1. Spendthrifts
The first spender personality is “Spender thrifts”. People who fall in this category have an attitude that “Life happens now”. They are akin to Punjabi folk song “khaao piyo aish karo mittro per dil kise de dukhayo no”. (Let’s go friends eat and enjoy, but don’t hurt anyone) They will spend their money all over which makes them feel that they are “living” in life. They will buy expensive gadgets, jazzy mobiles, eat and drink out at expensive places and will make sure that they are not at all compromising on enjoyment. They aren’t bargain shoppers; they are fashionable and they are looking to make a statement. The behaviour also affects their financial life; their savings are not so much as it can be because most of the leftover the money at the end of month is saved.
The simple rule of Saving=Income-Expenses is applicable for these people. Most of these people don’t have much left in their bank account by the end of month and they wonder “Where does it all go”
2. Followers
The next personality is that of the “Natural Spenders”. These people believe that life is about saving and for being prepared for the future. They are not exactly spendthrift, but they appear like spendthrift to others. They don’t want spend carelessly but they have to spend it like “Main paise kharchta nahin, kharch ho jaate hain”. (I don’t intend to spend money, but it gets to spend) This behaviour also affects their financial life; and they spend in anything which likes to other people. You can also attach the word “Follower” with these people. They have believe to reason to spend is that my friend or colleague who might have a bigger home than us, a better car or more expensive LCD or mobile.
3. Illusory
The third and an interesting category are of “Illusory”. They have great illusions, when it comes to taking spends, they will think that they are rightly take action and instead they will just spend and find all reasons in life for spending things. They read, talk and learn about everything, but don’t apply it to their life in any way. I personally think that a lot of us are like that. There are even many my colleagues here who are learning things from months/years, but still they have not done anything with their learning, they just read and feel happy that they know something good, but where is the action?
4. EMI Spenders
In this category, EMI gives a lot of people the feeling that they can afford anything which comes their way. And there lies the problem! A sizable chunk of people believe that they need a bigger one (when they actually don’t) and the easy availability of everything, in EMIs plays a large role in said belief. The EMI is such a beautiful concept, that even a person with salary of Rs30k can buy a helicopter! Why not? Just 9999 per month, for next 200 years! Does he need it? Who cares? He can afford it! The problem is not the EMI concept in itself. The problem is in us – losing our control on our spending and extending our affordability horizon to such great lengths, that we have everything in our life; but most of it is under debt.
5. Fantasy Spenders
The last category is really different one and fantasy system changes our “wants” into “needs”. Our home and our car are the two classics example of this. Let’s talk about the car. A lot of people a buy a car before home because the car adds to their comfort. I know a lot of people who can easily manage their life with a bike or without a vehicle, but have bought a car for reasons only known to them. There are just 2 people in the family, both have company transport, aren’t really outgoing, but they have a car. Not sure why! The main problem again, is people buy cars that are much bigger and costlier than what they can afford and need.
Recognize your personality
So which spender personality is better than the other and how to make change in your personality? First thing is that there is nothing bad or good about having one of these spender personalities. These personalities get into us because of various reasons in life and it’s not that easy to change them. What’s important is that you need to be aware about your personality and how it’s affecting your financial life. Try to find out how your spender personality can help in having a financial life which you desire.
Advice for Your Personality
Once you recognize yourself in one of these profiles and have put some thought into how you approach money, it’s time to see what you can do to make the most of what you have. Sometimes making just small changes can yield big results.
Suresh Kumar Narula is founder and Principal Financial Planner at Prudent Financial Planners. He has earned the professional CERITIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and got registered with SEBI as Investment Advisor. He writes on personal and financial planning articles and got published in Dainik Bhaskar, Business Bhaskar and The Financial Planner’s Guild, India. He is also a member of Financial Planner’s Guild India ( An association of practicing SEBI registered Investment advisers) to create awareness about Financial Planning in general public, promote professional excellence and ensure high quality practice standards. Suresh received his an M.com from Himachal Pardesh University and an MFC from Punjab University, Chandigarh. He can be reached at info@prudentfp.in