First, let me start by saying I have the potential to be a money hoarder!  The only thing preventing me from being a money hoarder is I don’t have much money…

Honestly, since freeing myself totally from debt, I’m still finding it hard to spend money.

Oh sure, usually we go out to eat once a week, charging the expense on one of my best reward credit cards.  But if an occasion arises where we might have to go out again during the week for a second time, to meet friends or whatever, I’ll excuse myself from going and stay at home so I don’t have to pay the extra money to cover the cost of eating me eat out twice.  My not eating out might not seem like a lot of savings, but it is considering that our kids still eat off of the kid’s menus, and my wife usually gets a lunch portion.

Hoarding Money At Home

I play a fairly frugal game, but I don’t hoard money at home.  The most money in the entire house is probably $500.  I know a lady that has over $100,000 stored at various location around her house, sometimes even in gifts that she gives out by mistake (oops)!  One year, we did a gift exchange and she gave us a cheap blue jar.  But when we opened the jar, it had $5,000 in it!  Boy, we were shocked, and once we told our friends about it, she heard and instantly wanted the money back saying that she made a mistake, and that was one of her hiding places.  Of course, we did return the money, but it left us wondering if she has done that before and how much money she gave away by mistake.

Another time while visiting the same lady, I noticed something barely visible at the top of her kitchen cabinet ledge.  Thinking it was a paper that was attached to the furniture, I reach up and grabbed it to read what it said.  Wouldn’t you know it!  It was a couple of fifty dollar bills.  This particular time, I just put it back and made sure it wasn’t visible and kept quiet.

After the mishap with the jar gift, I asked my friend why she keeps so much money hidden throughout the house, and she said that it made her feel safe!  I, on the other hand, thought that money could go out of the house in the pockets of burglars (if they got wind of the amounts that she kept in her house), or up in smoke if the house were to somehow catch on fire!  I’m pretty sure in the case of a fire, the insurance company would say “Sure you have over $100,000 stored at home instead of a bank”.

Symptoms of Money Hoarding

You see these types of people in the news all the time.  Such and such lived in a small one room house and looked like they were homeless their entire life.  They use discarded newspapers for blankets and picked through restaurant garbage for food.  Then once they die, everyone is surprised that they are really very rich and that these hoarders left all of their money to some college or charity.  That’s not the way money is meant to be used.  I’d rather be poor and live a balanced life than be rich and living like I’m poor!

I know when I spend money on merchandise, I get a little ill if it’s an expensive item.  I used to get a little light-headed and my stomach churns on a purchase such as a big screen TVs.

I think the average person looks down on those money hoarding, Scrooge types.  But perhaps it’s actually some form of hoarding illness or disorder?

Other hoarders are products of how they were raised (this is my case), and while you are able to change a bit more easily than those that are actually suffering a hoarding disorder, it’s still a small problem if it affects your health because you don’t spend money on taking care of yourself.

In my opinion, hoarding money is just as bad as spending money and getting in massive debt.  The correct path is somewhere in the middle…

Cheers,

MR