Money Dysmorphia

 Do you feel rich or broke? Do you prioritise experiences or possessions? Spend or save what's spare? And what happens when the way you feel about money is out of wack with reality?

Turns out there's a name for that last one: money dysmorphia... Those who experience it can develop unhealthy spending habits.

"Some people overspend, believing they have more money than they do," explains Christie Cook, a finance expert from Hodge Bank. "It can lead to racking up debt on credit cards and overdrafts, potentially landing themselves in financial difficulty."

On the other hand, some with money dysmorphia become overly frugal, Cook continues. "They may avoid small expenses like going out for a meal, even if they can afford it, as they're financially insecure and worry that their savings aren't as high as they need to be."

The Money Counter
Northern European School
Photo Credit: Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery [CC  BY-NC]

Emma Hall is such a person. "I don't really treat myself to anything new unless it's absolutely essential," says the 29-year-old from Cardiff who makes around £40,000 between her marketing job and side-hustles. 

"Unexpected costs always put me in a bad mood, no matter if it's £30 or £300. This bad mood doesn't just last a day, it's usually about a week that it's on my mind.." She continues, "As someone that already owns a house and a car and sits on a nice sum of savings you'd think I might be a bit more flexible... I would love to treat myself a little more, but my mindset often tells me that I can't do this even if my bank account tells me I can."...

Online comparisons can make us spend more than we have. More than half of Britons aged 18-24 said they felt pressure from social media platforms to buy things, while 43 per cent worried they were spending more than they could afford, in research by the Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Donna Richardson, a 44-year-old from Loughborough, Leicestershire, has fallen prey to this. "I don't look at my bank account, and then I'm shocked when I haven't got any money left," she says. "It's so worrying, she explains. "It's like a denial process."

"I just kind of act like I've got the money, because it makes me feel good," says Donna, a freelancer with no fixed income, whose particular weakness is clothes. "Obviously as a mum, I provide first, [but] I spend a lot on looking good, and trying to make my family look good."

She says she is impacted by online influencers. "They're dripping in designers, and you feel you can't compete... There's a thrill in treating myself, but then there's the low - stress about my obligations and bills. My buying is impulsive - and then with no money in the bank, as soon as some comes in, it cheers me up to buy something else."

She links her behaviour to her childhood. "We weren't able to have extra, luxury things [then], so now I'm treating myself," she explains, noting the impact on her own parenting. "If she wants anything, she has it," says Donna of her daughter. "Not that she's spoiled - but I sometimes don't look at the money in the bank before I buy."

(Emily Watkins, The i, 2025)

This is the Way We Wash Our Clothes
George Dunlop Leslie ( 1835-1921)
Photo Credit: Lady Lever Art Gallery {CC BY-NC] 

"Some people overspend, believing they have more money than they do," some people overspend not because they believe they have more money than they do but because they want things and hang the consequences.

As for Emma she needs to have a little chat -  not with a therapist - but with someone she trusts.

 More than half of Britons aged 18-24 said they felt pressure from social media platforms to buy things, By 18 and certainly by 24 these adults should have developed independent minds.

"Obviously as a mum, I provide first, [but] I spend a lot on looking good, and trying to make my family look good." Why's that Donna? Clothes, by and large, are there to keep us warm.

She says she is impacted by online influencers. Ah, the influencers again. Sheep-like behaviour and no rational thought.

"If she wants anything, she has it," says Donna of her daughter. "Not that she's spoiled" -  I would have thought that "if she wants anything she has it" is a classic definition of someone who is spoiled.