As a result, mental health professionals are at increased risk of overspending, compulsive buying, financial dependence on others and having trouble sticking to a budget, he says. In a 2012 study in the Journal of Financial Planning that surveyed 422 people (64 of whom were mental health professionals), he found that those in mental health fields scored significantly higher than financial advisors on financial denial behaviors, such as avoiding looking at bank statements or thinking about money. This is key for mental health professionals, who Klontz has found are more "money avoidant" than other professionals, such as those in finance. "They help engage the prefrontal cortex to help you think through, 'Is this something I can afford? Am I just buying something to fill an emotional need?'" "The apps that track spending in real time and send you alerts help increase that conscious awareness" of your spending, Klontz says.
"Money in electronic form is much more difficult for the brain to track than money in physical form," she says.īut online money management tools can help your digital money seem real, says Brad Klontz, PsyD, a financial psychologist in Hawaii.
Such online tools are especially important if - like most people - you increasingly use electronic money, such as credit and debit cards, instead of cash or checks, says Mary Gresham, PhD, an Atlanta financial psychologist. These mobile apps can help you keep on top of spending by monitoring your checking and credit accounts many let you set up budgets and then notify you if you've blown past your targets. Online finance apps are a growing field, with more than a thousand to choose from between the iOS and Android platforms. "That puts a cap on my spending for a while," says Anderson, a master's student at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, where she's studying industrial and organizational psychology. That's why Anderson uses the online finance app LearnVest, which sends her email alerts when she's spent more than she planned. Britta Anderson works as a financial programs manager for a community service agency and teaches classes in money management - yet the 29-year-old psychology graduate student still needs help reining in her spending.
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