In all my life I have yet to meet someone who is completely happy with the amount of money they possess. Whether that is because they feel they need more or actually need more to live a comfortable life, it is fair to say most of us have hang-ups about what we earn and how we choose to spend it, which often bleeds into our money confidence.<\/p>\n
In my household, which consists of two parents, two small children and one cat, approaches to spending vary wildly from totally passive (the kids and the cat!) to different degrees of proactiveness. Between my partner and me, a fairly consistent lack of confidence in our financial health manifests in two oppositional ways; he falls within the \u201clet\u2019s lift the hood and take a look\u201d category \u2013 if we know where everything is going we can budget, plan and make progress \u2013 whereas I prefer to leave the hood well and truly closed until I see smoke coming out of it.<\/p>\n
On my part, an avoidant disposition sometimes veers into overspending and the sort of magical thinking that leads to a monthly conversation usually beginning with him asking where all of our money has gone \u2013 show me a couple who has never argued about money! In my defence, budgeting and smart spending wasn\u2019t something that was ever drilled into me growing up or at school \u2013 it was a conversation left to the adults (specifically male adults). It is something that my partner found surprising when we met, given my general level of competence in the other responsibilities traditionally acquired in adulthood, and something we (and I) have been very proactive about working to improve over the years. During that time, I have often leant on internet resources, such as this one<\/a> from Barclays on budgeting.<\/p>\n And so, like many people looking ahead to a year of increasing expenditure, I am energised to try new strategies, and after talking with different friends and family members \u2013 of both older and younger generations \u2013 I decided it would be fun to try to implement some of the spending habits common to each group to see if they work for me and my family.<\/p>\n Day one: get that paper<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about the boomers in your life, but mine always carry cash \u2013 no matter what. Sometimes and perhaps ill-advisedly, great big wads of it. Although older people are increasingly turning to cashless payments, they are still more likely<\/a> to rely on cash; something I, a millennial who always pays on her phone and absolutely never remembers to bring her cards out, find it easy to poke fun at. But today, just for today, I thought: \u201cLet\u2019s see if holding money in my hands makes me more mindful about how I spend it.\u201d I have to say, the fact you can really keep track of how much you\u2019re spending as it\u2019s in the physical realm \u2013 rather than just taps and swipes \u2013 really appeals.<\/p>\n And what a test it was! First of all, I am so out of practice carrying money in my hand that I found myself feeling quite self-conscious and worried about someone stealing it. Or about dropping or losing it. Thankfully, neither happened and I did definitely feel much more of a responsibility around passing my money over rather than tapping an imagined pile away. It was also very convenient when for once we had the 50p needed to buy duck food at the canal for the kids a few days later. But \u2026 it was also a huge pain in places that have gone cashless. And so while it is something maybe to incorporate for certain events where I might be tricked into a bit of \u201coh it\u2019s only a little bit more\u201d style thinking \u2013 the food shop, present shopping \u2013 it is perhaps not a foolproof strategy for survival in 2026.<\/p>\n Day two: playing my (debit) cards close to my chest<\/p>\n Maybe it is the influence of my elders, but I really feel quite squeamish talking about money, which is something I have had to work very hard on when combining finances into one household income.<\/p>\n Historically, spending money has been something I have wanted to hide (oh the shame!) but in our relationship this is a behaviour that often drives financial anxiety for my partner \u2013 like today, when he asked where all the money had gone from our monthly pot for the house, which I, without discussing, had spent. On very important things, you understand, but without communication. Turns out, being tight-lipped about spending isn\u2019t very good for our relationship, so I\u2019ll leave that habit to the boomers.<\/p>\n Day three: let\u2019s get loud<\/p>\n Ever heard of the term loud budgeting? Nope, me neither, but apparently it is embraced by gen zedders as a way of setting parameters and healthy boundaries with friends and family about what you are willing to spend money on \u2013 and what you aren\u2019t. After yesterday\u2019s snafu, I figured perhaps this was a trend we could make use of in our relationship. As an avoidant when it comes to money chat, I actually enjoyed having a frank conversation about our spending goals for the year \u2013 and where our priorities differ (he prefers to save, I prefer a new bathroom, plus \u00e7a change). We already have a fairly open and organised spending plan (of course, he has everything mapped out to 2027 at least), but having a more human chat about where we landed on our visions for the year actually was really helpful and gave me a boost of confidence because it took me from default role of passive spender who ignored the bigger picture to a proactive agent in our plans \u2013 I felt empowered. Big tick for loud budgeting.<\/p>\n Learn more on how the Barclays app1 lets you set goals, automate transfers, and track spending<\/a><\/p>\n Today, like most days, and like most good gen zedders, I spent money only using contactless<\/a> and was actually quite shocked when I saw how much I had spent at the end of the day on little things here and there that really added up. It made me reflect on my usual level of confidence tapping away money without much thought, and how perhaps it isn\u2019t confidence at all, but another manifestation of my denial and avoidance. After my cash-in-hand day, it felt like a moment of growth. Maybe a bit of both is a good combination moving forwards.<\/p>\n Day five: dopamine hacking<\/p>\n I see myself as a millennial and that is, perhaps, because I am one. But if there\u2019s one thing I can hugely relate to that gen Z has become known for it is \u201ctreat culture<\/a>\u201d. For the uninitiated, this is the habit of getting yourself a nice little thing that doesn\u2019t cost much \u2013 be that a comestible or otherwise \u2013 to reward yourself with something small rather than letting abstinence push you to wanting to splurge. In my case, this ramped up in the pandemic, when motivation was hard to come by. What I\u2019m saying is: I used our commitment to this very scientific experiment as an excuse to buy myself a hot chocolate and I have absolutely no complaints about this approach to spending. One thing I did notice though, when pushed, is that the little dopamine hit I got from my little treat didn\u2019t differ much in size from how I\u2019d feel post splurge. In fact, it felt cleaner and less shame-filled, making me think that there is definitely some merit in this approach.<\/p>\n Day six: a boomer habit with a gen Z twist<\/p>\n Frugality may be a quality we tend to associate with boomers, and yet in the past five years or so, it is a word that has become increasingly trendy on social media, with financial influencers drawing hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. It revolves in particular around an apparent abundance of tech-fuelled hacks to spend less and invest more at an earlier stage<\/a> in life than previous generations. It is something I have watched with interest, and with a few annual subscriptions and memberships up for renewal, it felt like a good day to do some research into where we can cut costs on our spending. As luck would have it, dedicating time to this saved us a few hundred pounds on our car insurance, which was a great win. I am by no means frugal, but I do always pay attention to savvy ways to save money, and today was a great example of how it can pay dividends.<\/p>\n Day seven: the day of (financial) rest<\/p>\n A whole day without spending money! Millennials like me could never imagine \u2014 so I\u2019m calling this a tip I learned from my gen alpha kids, who have actually never spent a penny between them. Incredible!<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/p>\n To be completely honest, I didn\u2019t expect that a week spent sampling different generational spending habits would teach me so much, and yet here we are. Above all else, it made me more motivated to improve my own financial confidence, and showed me that despite what each generation might tend to think of each other\u2019s way of doing things \u2013 outdated or naive depending on which side you\u2019re on \u2013 there is merit in all of them. For those keen to cross-reference the value of each approach, Barclays Money Management<\/a> can help you see which strategies are backed by experts.<\/p>\n Honestly, I finished the week reflecting on how much of a mistake it is to limit ourselves to advice only from people our own age; there is something we could all learn from listening to each other on any topic (apart from gen beta who, I think, should probably learn to talk first).<\/p>\n