10 Signs You Have Financial OCD
- It irritates you when cashiers give you the bills back before the coins. Hello! You’re supposed to put the coins in my hand first, then the bills. Otherwise the coins fall all over the place!
- You keep your bills organized in your wallet from lowest to highest, all facing forward and upright. How else are you going to know how much money you have and prevent advertising the amount of cash you’re carrying from everyone else? Plus, Suze Orman told you to!
- You check your bank account online every day. Even though you balance your checkbook, you still like to know exactly which day the electric company cashes their check.
- You always know the exact balance of your retirement accounts, even though you’re thirty years from retirement. It affects your net worth, you know!
- You’re unable to throw out old financial records. You see, someday you might need to know your average monthly water bill, and since that information is only kept online for three months, how else would you be able to figure it out? Quicken? Well, what if your computer crashes and you haven’t backed up your files for four months?
- When you owe someone money, you pay with exact change. When your coworker goes to McDonald’s and picks up your #9, you give him $5.26. It’s only fair.
- You split the cost of the stamp with your roommates when paying the cable bill. Let’s see, that will be $22.16 for you, $22.16 for me, and $22.17 for Erica. Sorry, Erica, but it’s your month to pay the extra penny. Oh, and everyone’s total includes 13 cents for the stamp - well, it’s actually 14 cents for Kim and I, of course.
- When you take your change jar to the bank, you count all the change ahead of time. You just can’t wait to find out how much money you’re going to have! Plus, now you’ll know if the teller drops a quarter on the way to the change machine.
- You play games with your money. “Never spend a $20 dollar bill.” “Round up your transactions to the nearest dollar and transfer the rest to savings.” “Hide $50 in your underwear drawer and see if it’s still there next paycheck.”
- You can account for every dollar you’ve spent in the past 10 years. Well, you have to keep track of your cash purchases too, because that’s where most “leakage” occurs! Plus, what better way to illustrate to your spouse that they’re spending too much money on vending machine purchases than through a pie chart in Quicken?
13 responses so far
This is great. I was worried when I was guilty of the first 4! Fortunately the final 6 I was fine.
Two months ago, I would’ve been the complete antithesis of this post. In true manic form, I am making up for lost time by incorporating most of those points above into the newly financially accountable “Me”. My color coded spreadsheets are annoying the heck out of everyone around me.
[...] 10 Signs You Have Financial OCD at Finance Gets Personal [...]
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[...] Gets Personal gives 10 signs you have financial OCD. I do check our bank account almost daily, but I don’t know how much I spent yesterday much [...]
It drives me nuts how most cashiers give change! Haven’t they ever been on the receiving end? Don’t they know it’s a juggling act?
It’s just one of the many reasons that I rarely use cash anymore. My debit card is much friendlier to me. lolz.
#2 and 3 for me. #6 a little, but I don’t owe other people money…just when I’m paying out of my cash envelopes. If I can give correct change, then that’s another George to stay in that cash envelope. Budget preservation of each category/envelope.
I really dislike ratty money. People have so little respect for our presidents. I like to make sure they’re all smoothed out straight before I put them in order, face forward in the cash envelope. It’s my salute!!!
I look after my Georges, Abes, and Jacksons. *mwah* LOL
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[...] 20, 2008 by financegirl MSN Money’s Smart Spending blog is featuring my post, 10 Signs You Have Financial OCD, in Are You Obsessive-Compulsive About [...]
[...] I tend to cut it a little close in my bank account during the pay period that the mortgages are due. I fully realize that I’m doing it, because I keep track of everything in Quicken. But I usually check my accounts online daily, and transfer money from savings if necessary (look for my upcoming post: 10 Signs You Have Financial OCD). [...]
Awesome post. The scary thing is about half of these describe me.
Thanks for stopping by, Pinyo.
I do about half of these on a regular basis (definitely items 1-4), and am borderline OCD on the rest.
wow..i wish i could say that i ONLY checked my account online once a day. : O
i am extremely ocpd but i embrace it as an endearing quirk!