7 Lies We Tell Ourselves About Money

7 Lies We Tell Ourselves About Money

How Our Own Beliefs Keep Us Broke, Stressed, and Stuck and What to Do Instead

Most of us don’t wake up thinking, I’m going to ruin my financial future today. And yet, we make choices every week that quietly sabotage our progress. Often, the root of those choices isn’t ignorance or laziness. It’s the little lies we tell ourselves.

They’re comforting. They make us feel better in the moment. But over time, they cost us peace of mind, opportunity, and thousands of dollars.

This article is not about shame. It’s about honesty. We all have financial blind spots, and sometimes the hardest part of change is simply seeing them clearly. Once we name these lies, we take back the power to rewrite the story.

Let’s unpack seven common lies we tell ourselves about money and how each one holds us back more than we realise.

1. “I Deserve It” Even When I Can’t Afford It

This phrase is a master manipulator. It shows up after a hard day, when we’re feeling low or burnt out. We use it to justify splurges that our budget can’t support.

The logic sounds harmless. I work hard. I deserve a treat. The problem isn’t the treat. It’s using a reward to mask emotional burnout, frustration, or a lack of control.

When “I deserve it” becomes a regular reason for impulse spending, we create a cycle. We buy to feel better, then feel worse when the bill comes. Then we buy again to escape that guilt.

What we actually deserve is peace, freedom, and a life that doesn’t revolve around catching up. That starts by learning to reward ourselves in ways that don’t wreck our financial future. Sometimes, saying no is the most loving thing we can do for ourselves.

2. “I’ll Start Saving When I Earn More”

This one sounds logical. Why save $20 a month when it feels like you’re barely scraping by? Why bother when you know your next pay raise will change everything?

Because it usually doesn’t.

When we wait for more money before building better habits, we miss the point. Money habits don’t change when our income changes, they change when we change.

Someone earning $3,000 a month who saves $100 consistently is building discipline. Someone earning $10,000 a month who spends it all is still living paycheck to paycheck.

It’s not about the amount. It’s about the muscle. Saving when it’s hard prepares you to handle money when it’s easy.

If you can’t save $20 now, what makes you think you’ll save $500 later?

3. “I’ll Pay It Off Next Month”

This is the battle cry of the credit card culture. We tell ourselves that a balance isn’t a problem because it’s temporary. Just one month. Maybe two.

But life rarely cooperates with clean timelines. Emergencies pop up. That bonus doesn’t land. The car breaks down. Then that one-month delay turns into six months. Or six years.

Every time you tell yourself, I’ll pay it off next month, you make a bet against your future self. And you saddle them with interest.

Let’s say you put $1,000 on a card at 22 percent interest and take a year to pay it off. That purchase now costs you nearly $1,120. That’s $120 gone, not on the product, but on waiting.

The real win is not in delaying pain, but in planning ahead and paying with intention.

4. “Everyone Has Debt, It’s Normal”

Just because something is common does not mean it’s healthy. Yes, many people have debt. That does not make it a wise long-term plan.

We hear this lie in conversations, social media, and even from financial institutions. The result? We stop questioning it. We begin to accept student loans, credit cards, car notes, and personal loans as an unavoidable part of life.

But normalising debt is like normalising chronic stress. It may be familiar, but it doesn’t make it safe.

Freedom is not just about income. It’s about having options. And the fewer payments you owe each month, the more options you have, to quit a job, to take a risk, to invest in yourself.

Debt may be common. But financial freedom is powerful. Choose power.

5. “Budgeting Means I Can’t Enjoy Life”

Many people think of budgets the same way they think of diets; as restrictive, punishing, boring.

But a real budget is not about saying no. It’s about saying yes on purpose.

A good budget doesn’t kill your joy. It fuels it. It says, “Here’s what I actually want to spend my money on. And here’s what I’m no longer wasting money on by accident.”

Want to spend $150 a month on date nights? Great. Want to travel twice a year? Perfect. The budget helps you make it happen.

Without a plan, you’re constantly reacting. With a plan, you’re in control.

Budgeting isn’t a punishment. It’s a permission slip to live your values.

6. “It’s Too Late for Me”

This one is especially painful. It usually shows up after years of financial stress. Maybe you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and feel like you’ve missed your chance to build wealth or retire comfortably.

But this belief robs you twice. First, it robs you of hope. Then, it robs you of progress.

It is never too late to change direction. You may not become a millionaire overnight. But you can build stability. You can pay off debt. You can create new habits that ripple forward in powerful ways.

Some of the most financially secure people started over in midlife. What made the difference was not age. It was decision.

The past may have been unkind. But the future is still unwritten.

7. “More Money Will Solve My Problems”

It’s comforting to believe this. When the bills stack up, when the rent is due, when you’re juggling five obligations and a flat tire, it makes sense to think, If only I made more, this would all go away.

But more money doesn’t fix bad money habits. It amplifies them.

You’ve probably heard stories of lottery winners who went broke. Or celebrities who made millions and lost it all. It’s not because they were stupid. It’s because the habits didn’t change. And the same behaviours that mismanaged $5,000 will mismanage $500,000.

Money is a magnifier. It reveals what’s already there.

That means the best time to build money wisdom is now, not when you get the dream job or big raise.

More money helps, yes. But what helps more is learning how to keep it.

Rewriting the Story

Every one of these lies has something in common. They give us short-term comfort, but long-term pain.

We tell ourselves these things because they ease guilt, avoid hard choices, and protect our ego. But they also stop us from facing the truth, that we have more power than we think.

The moment we stop lying to ourselves about money is the moment we start healing our relationship with it.

Start small. Be honest. Make room for progress, not perfection.

And remember this: wealth is not just about numbers. It’s about clarity, consistency, and courage.

You don’t need to believe the lie. You can write a better truth; one budget, one decision, one dollar at a time.