How you relate to money money could have a lot to do with emotional connections you made to money at a young age, and these so-called “money scripts” can be a blindspot that’s causing you financial pain, reports WSJ.

Mr. Kahler described one client whose father traveled a lot when she was a child. Before his trips, her dad would hand her a credit card and tell her to “buy something nice” for herself. She now realizes she’s deep into credit-card debt because she overspends when she’s sad or lonely.

To deprogram yourself, Kahler recommends having yourself and your friends fill in the statement “What do I believe about money and — ?” with a few key words, like “marriage” and “work” and having a few friends do the same. By comparing results, you might be able to uncover what’s really driving the spending habits that are keeping your savings down.

To Do in ’09: Overcome Your Money Issues [WSJ] (Photo: lemoncat1)

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