What are your best and worst money habits?

I had a “bad” Sunday, yesterday. 

First, I became sad when the bank I’ve had a crush on for quite a while rejected me.  It may end up as a big misunderstanding, but my feelings were hurt. 

Second, my New England Patriots lost to the darn J-E-T-S- JETS JETS JETS!  (Not sure which one of these first two hurt more.)

And third, my wife and I ordered some Domino’s pizza for dinner (the $5.99 special, of course, that I’m sure I’ll pay for next boxing class).  That wasn’t the bad part.  The bad part was that we mistakenly ordered thin crust.  Yuck!  At least we got free Cinna Stix.  Mmmmm….

Anyhow, that all got me thinking - especially the rejection. 

I first did some reflection about rejection (say that out loud – it’s fun, but tougher than you think).  And then I started thinking about whether I have some crazy habit with my banking that resulted in a “negative report” out there on me.  Grr….

And what other habits do I have that help and hurt me financially?  I’m sure I have quite a bit of money habits – good and bad.  To be clear, by “habits” I mean something I do so often and regular that it is almost involuntary or something I do automatically.  I do not mean general characteristics or patterns like the ones I considered when I wondered whether I have what it takes to be rich a couple of weeks ago.

Off the top of my head, here are a few good and bad habits that I can think of:

Good:

1. I check my bank records and credit card statements religiously (helps catch mistakes);
2. I am on automatic savings plans (not sure if this is a habit, but because it’s automatic it qualifies as “involuntary” in my mind and I always set up auto-savings and investing);
3. I always wonder whether there is a better way for my money decisions (this can also be bad if it freezes you, but it doesn’t freeze me); and
4. I’m always thinking of new or creative ways to save and invest.  In fact, I’ll try and think of one or two alternatives any time I make a money decision I consider “not trivial.”

Bad (I’m working hard to break these – I promise):

1. I often “over think” money issues;
2. I often “over complicate” money issues, like investment strategies, for example (I’ve been breaking this lately); and
3. I’ve historically spent a lot of money on sports memorabilia and tickets (I’ve just committed to breaking this habit.  So far, I gave up buying memorabilia and even sold some.  And I’ve only gone to games for my work when someone else pays.);
4. My initial instinct is to not consider “time” value when determining savings value (i.e. is it “worth” it to work for three hours to save $10?  My instinct is to do it, especially if I don’t have other money-making opportunities for those three hours…); and
5. I do not value simplicity and stress reduction as much as I should.

I’m sure there are a ton more.  I’ll update this list from time to time – especially as I work on breaking my bad money habits.

What are your best and worst money habits?  Have you mastered the art of saving?  Investing?  Do you smoke?  Do you drink too much?  Do you abuse credit cards?  Bounce checks? 

So let’s commit to breaking our worst money habits!  The first step is to list them out!  Do it in the comments if you want.  Or just do it on your own.  Then start working on breaking them. 

I’ll also update you on how I’m breaking my bad habits.  That’s probably more important than the what, I think.

So I know this might be easier said than done if your worse habit is shopping or abusing credit.  But try it out for me!  That’s right – put the credit card down and slowly step away from the mall!