Experts named the main signs of unhealthy savings among Russians
The fear of spending money, even with a stable income, may not be related to rationality, but to anxiety and the experience of scarcity. On May 14, banker Kairat Yedirov and psychologist Alexandra Grazhdanov told Izvestia about the boundary between healthy thrift and pathological greed.
Principles of money management
Yedirov explained that thrift and greed may look similar in appearance, but they have fundamentally different financial goals. Thrift means managing funds for a specific result and finding the optimal balance of price and quality. With this approach, a person is willing to spend money on things that benefit: health, education, and development.
Greed, on the contrary, is characterized by a blind reduction of any expenses. Giving up basic comfort, rest, or necessary treatment eventually leads to even greater losses. According to Yedirov, thrift is aimed at strengthening the sustainability of life, while greed begins to narrow it.
"Thrift is managing money for a purpose. A person is looking for a normal price—performance ratio, does not overpay, but is ready to spend where it really benefits," said Yedirov.
Psychological reasons
Citizens explained that excessive savings are often not related to the current financial situation. Anxiety, insecurity, and past scarcity experiences can be behind the painful fear of spending. Often such attitudes are formed in childhood under the influence of family scenarios where money was a source of conflict or control.
The expert noted that thrift is a flexible planning strategy, whereas greed is accompanied by severe discomfort with any purchases.
"Accumulating money does not bring a sense of peace, and anxiety still remains," the specialist noted.
The citizens also pointed out the importance of the family's role in shaping these processes. The attitude towards finances, laid down by parents and the immediate environment, can determine a person's tendency to excessive saving in adulthood.
Paths to material growth
The banker stressed that limiting spending helps to bring order to the budget, but the only driver of well-being is an increase in income. In business, excessive savings on marketing, team, or product leads to a loss of competitiveness. To form the right attitude to finance, the banker advises distributing income into categories: for the airbag, investments and current needs.
The expert also recommends estimating the cost of your own time. If solving a problem on your own is more expensive than the services of a specialist, such savings become unprofitable. Healthy financial behavior involves the ability not only to save money, but also to use it effectively.
"A healthy attitude towards money is a balance. You need to be able to save money, but you also need to be able to use it. Frugality gives a person freedom and stability. Greed, on the contrary, narrows life down to a constant fear of spending too much," concluded Yedirov.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
