Happy Halloween!
I live on a street where Halloween is a very big deal. Below is a photo of our house, dressed up as a crime scene (Ha!) for the occasion...
Each Halloween, we get over 1,000 kids come through for trick or treating. Here's me two years ago, dressed up as a character on Squid Games, and this little girl is in the same costume! (I hope she didn't watch Squid Games!)
Here's me with some Squid Games guards...
And yes, every year, we spend a lot of money on candy!
We were even warned when we first moved in that we can’t just say no to the festivities.
So each year, we decorate the house, buy about 1,000 pieces of candy and sit outside all night to hand it out. We invite our friends over too because it’s just too much to do it all by ourselves.
So…why do we do it? Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on candy each year? Why do we spend time putting up the decorations and sitting outside handing out candy to a bunch of strangers’ kids, many of whom don’t even live in the neighborhood?
Well, in so many ways, it’s just what’s expected of us.
Do I think it’s fun?
Yes, most of the time.
However, there’s also (slight) fear that if we don’t do it, we’ll be egged or toilet-papered.
(Yup that's Chris Harrison cleaning up the Bachelor mansion.)
So, we do it.
Every year since we moved in 10 years ago, we've handed out candy (except in 2020 at the height of the pandemic).
This is kinda how we operate with our money.
We do what’s expected of us.
Sometimes, we’re doing something fun with our money.
But most of the time, we’re doing what’s expected of us.
Pay our bills, our rent, etc.
We also sometimes do things out of fear or spend money not because it’s what we really want but from the fear of missing out or whatever other irrational fear comes up.
(Like the time I spent almost $1,000 at a friend’s bachelorette party in Vegas and then she never even got married.)
If you didn't know, I grew up Baptist, and since I grew up in Texas, it was Southern Baptist. Our church told us to not even celebrate Halloween. They said it was the devil’s holiday. They told us what Halloween meant, but they couldn’t make us do anything. It was still up to us to decide what we wanted to do.
My brother and I still went trick-or-treating. However, my mom didn’t trust anyone else’s candy, so she would actually throw away all of our candy before we could eat any of it!
So, trick-or-treating wasn’t really real. Or was it? What is trick-or-treating about?
Is it about getting dressed up in a costume and going door to door to see how much candy you can get (or if you're Charlie Brown, a rock)? Or is it about getting to eat the candy?
With money, I want you to ask yourself the same thing.
Is it about making the money, putting it in the bank and paying your bills? Or is it about spending it on experiences that could make your life richer, or shall I say, sweeter?
Well, you get to decide because as a reminder … MONEY ISN’T REAL.
Is it part of our reality? Sure.
However, humans have made up the concept of money. We created the currencies we exchange and decide what value the currencies represent. Even when we call it the same thing, a dollar – a U.S. dollar doesn’t equal a Canadian or an Australian dollar.
Just as our government can decide what value to place on its currencies, you and I can decide what value you want to put onto money.
For me, it represents freedom. The more money I have, the more freedom I have to choose what I want to do, where I want to go, and to be able to say no to any means of making money, even when they do not align with my values.
So, what do you want money to represent for you and your life? What value do you want to place onto money?
I would love to know in the comments. If you don't know, you can also take my Financial Freedom Formula Quiz that can show you your money type. Just click below.
Or you can rewrite your money story and fears, as well as get more conscious or aligned with your spending by using my Conscious Cash Companion.
Just like you get to decide what Halloween means for you and your kids, you also get to decide what money means to you.
With pumpkin spice and everything not so nice 🎃,
