Your Financial Thermometer: What's in Your Wallet?

How you carry your cash is a great indicator of your attitude toward money. If you want to change your financial picture, a good place to start is your core relationship to the paper you carry around with you. Logically, you may think, "I want to be affluent and enjoy the finer things of life," while inside something may be whispering, "Money is bad. It causes trouble," or "You don't deserve it." How you treat your cash can reveal your true core feelings toward money.

Which of these are you?

Diane Disarray: Be careful when you look into Diane's purse. You might think C-4 had exploded. She's the one we get impatient with at the cash register. When it is time to pay, she digs around in her "bottomless pit" pulling out wads of paper, laughing and telling the clerk she hopes she has enough cash because she does not want to write a check.

Hoarding Harry: Harry's wallet is arranged by amount, newness of bill, and year printed. He carries large amounts of cash for emergencies, but in actuality he won't turn loose of any of it. You would think he is the penny pinching dream, but he has forgotten that money is just a tool. If you are counting on Harry to donate to a family who just lost their home to a fire, don't hold your breath!

Carefree Carl: His cash is peeking out from all sides of his wallet. He's never sure how much he has. He only knows that today he has to spend some somewhere. Perhaps a lotto ticket would be just the thing or a tool he can throw into his stash. Sure, he has to buy gas for the week. For now, he just wants to live for the moment because this cold hard cash feels hot in his pocket!

Balanced Bette: Bette has her coins and cash separated. She knows the amount of money on hand and keeps it for weekly needs. She knows that expenses often come up or that she may need something extra special for dinner tonight. When a situation arises, her first thought is how that will affect her budget. She knows that life can change on a dime and she needs to be ready to weigh the cost with the benefit. She does have an envelope in her sock drawer where she sets aside money to go crazy on vacation. That at least gives her the illusion of spontaneity.

Go ahead. Open your wallet and take a look. Would your spouse be happy if you treated him or her the way you're treating your cash? Take a moment to smooth out the bills, organize them by amount and count your change. Remember, money is a tool. Any craftsman knows, you need to treat your tools with respect if you want them to work for you.