2bearsmom has been hinting towards this idea a few times with the questions she been asking about who do you talk to about your finances and about how much we worry about our finances.

Do you think your current financial situation is affecting you personally and in your relationships with others? Does it make you moody? Does it make you fearful? Are you at ease or constantly covering up silly decisions you or your dh made with your budget?

Your fiancial situation doesn't define who I am Sorry couldn't resist pointing out that little typo

I think our situation has very little to do with who I am as a person....I am me with money and without. Sure I am more at ease with no financial worries (who isn't?) But I don't cover up silly decisions, I am pretty up front and honest about it (I say 'pretty up front' b/c I don't disclose all personal info, unless I truly trust someone). I don't cover up b/c all our financial mistakes are ones that we learned from, I'm not proud of some of them, but they were all lessons in and of themselves.

Editing to add...yes sometimes it does make me moody...That I'll be honest about...I can get mad at myself for buying something I don't think I should have b/c it will cause us to be tighter between paychecks. I do worry on no OT checks b/c something amy or may not get paid from this check, and that can put me in a mood with DH. I do tend to worry, at times. Not as often as it may come across in this forum though...Sheesh...try and post a conversation starter (J/K...but you know that!)

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No you're not!

I don't believe finances define who you are. To me, a good moral character is so much more important.

I have to admit though, that past memories of being poor are tied into a poorer self image of myself that I wish I didn't have. I spent many years of my life trying to prove to myself that although I lived in a not-so-nice neighborhood, and didn't have much money, that it wasn't me. In a way, it was good because it drove me to earn a BS and Graduate degree. School, to me, was what was going to get me out of that situation and it did. For that, I'm grateful. Unfortunately, there are so many times when I feel I'm being looked at as not who I am now, but for the poor girl I was once.

This is another reason why I have a very hard time with my in-laws. They actually think they're being funny when they make degrading comments about where I lived and how I grew up. (By the way, I was the quintessential "good girl" so they can blow it out their you-know whats!)

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No. I am more than the balance in my checkbook.

Admittedly, it took me years to understand that though. I used to feel really crummy about myself and my relationship with money. Now, I know that I simply did not know how to manage it. There were a lot of things I knew how to do well, but that was not one of them.

Now, I feel completely differently about it. I have educated myself and feel much more in control. It's quite an empowering feeling. And, I've discovered that external things/people, and past experiences do not define me.

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Attaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.

My financial situation does not affect my mood towards other people. I usually keep anything we have going on to ourselves.

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I think your financial situation affects how people treat and act torwards you, than the other way around.

If people think you have "extra money" they don't hesitate to ask about borrowing it. My daughter thinks becasue her dad has his own business, whatever she needs out of it should be free. It doesn't matter that he has to pay for it!

When I owned my cafe, a lot of relatives would come in to eat and not even offer to pay. And I am not talking about sisters or brothers but cousins and even distance cousins. I guess they didn't realize or care that i had to pay for the food and the salary of the people who served them.