Lindstrom - Dollars & no sense : why are you spending your money like an idiot? : a shocking guide to your spending habits

Have you ever opened your wallet and thought, hey where did all my money go?

Have you ever seen someone who ostensibly earns less money than you yet somehow they seem to have a much nicer lifestyle?

Do you ever get the creeping sensation that youre just a rat in a wheel, and that youre never really getting anywhere when it comes to money?

Are you often obsessed with buying something and then immediately lose interest in it the second you own it?

Do you feel like you have so much stuff but that you dont really need or even like most of it?

Do you ever sit at work and think, whats the point of all this?

Does it seem like you spend a lot of your day stressing about money instead of just living?

Do you feel like youre moving from one minor money crisis to the next?

Are you in massive debt and feel sick to the stomach just thinking about how much you owe?

Are you often in relationships, jobs or living situations that you hate simply because you cant afford to try anything else?

If any of the above hit a little too close to home, then this book was written for you. Our culture has a strange blind spot when it comes to money well watch ads for erectile dysfunction medicine on TV without flinching, overshare about our bowel movements and mother issues on social media, but when it comes to a frank discussion about money, many of us are more than a little shy. Money is a leading cause of relationship dissatisfaction, of stress and burnout, and yet were all super reluctant about bringing it up. Youre not supposed to talk about how much you earn. Or how much you owe , for that matter.

The result? Many of us have pretty dysfunctional relationships when it comes to money. Even the most put-together person can have an attitude to money thats a little bonkers. Read the following descriptions and see if any of them (or all of them!) sound like you.

The manic depressive spender:

The few days just before payday feel like Christmas Eve to you. You wait and anticipate, and the second you see your new bank balance, youre spending like theres no tomorrow, treating yourself to every little thing you know you deserve, spoiling your friends and enjoying the finer things in life. But by the time mid-month comes rolling by, youve overspent and have a horrible money hangover and have to endure a miserable few weeks where you scrape by, borrow or live on beans and humiliation. But its ok because your next payday is coming!

The money addict:

Youre probably wealthier now than youve ever been, yet somehow lifes expenses have just racked up at the same pace, and your sense of always slightly struggling seems to be the only constant. If money was a drug, well, you developed a tolerance for it a long time ago. What a younger version of yourself would have thought of as success and luxury barely registers at all for you anymore. Youre pretty sure theres only one thing that would puncture your thickening skin of boredom and entitlement: more money

The denial case:

Money is the root of all evil. And it also makes the world go round? Or something. You dont pay too much attention to your credit card statements and you plan on dying young anyway so you never have to stress too much about a pension. Youve never been good with money, you tell yourself, and the only thing you know for sure is that theres always somehow never enough of it. Financial planning and saving sound like things other people do. Things always work out, right? Until they dont. The more irresponsible you are with your finances, the deeper you stick your head into the sand

Of course, these descriptions are just tongue-in-cheek poor spending habits and unhealthy attitudes to money can seriously undermine your happiness and wellbeing and are no laughing matter. Money is a resource. Its a symbol. A tool. The way you think about yourself, your life and your worth is keenly reflected in the way you think about money. But in the next chapter, well see that most of us dont take money nearly as seriously as we should