Fear of Being Broke

[gracer]

I actually don't know if fear of becoming broke is considered as a phobia but when I tried Googling about it, I found out that it is indeed considered a phobia. It is called Peniaphobia, the fear of having no money and of getting poor.


I thought of creating this thread because I would like to know if this is also a concern of some of you here. There are those moments when I'm just alone with myself and different thoughts suddenly come into mind including thinking about a future which is so uncertain. I would sometimes ask myself what I would do if I ever get so broke and have no other means of producing money for myself and my family. "What would I do? How could I cope?", Those kinds of questions that sometimes keep on coming back trying to test me.


Seems like a silly question to ask but do you ever fear losing money and becoming broke?

 

[Lucky120]

I know how you feel because I think about this all the time. I am married and we are a military family, I stay home with the kids but I have my bachelor's degree which is great. I have been trying to work so that when he gets out we can still make ends meat. I do have this fear because I always think about what are we going to do and are we going to be able to give our boys what they need. I can say that this is a phobia that I have at this moment and it is not at all fun in my opinion. There are a lot of phobias out there and I can say that i did not know that this was one so thank you for sharing this.

 

[pwarbi]

Even people that aren't suffering from any form of anxiety or depression will have that fear of not being able to financially support themselves. In the past, even when I was young I also found that I worried about having a lack of money and I found that I worried not just about the future but living day to day, so in the end it made me not want to spend anything. Money isn't the be all and end all and there are certainly more important things in the world, but having said that I think we can all relate to being happier at the times we have got money, and knowing that we can afford to not only pay the bills but also be able to afford to enjoy ourselves as well makes a big difference to a persons mental health as it just means there is one less thing to worry about.

 

[John Snort]

Many people are terrified of being broke or afraid of being people. And they stress themselves out worrying about how it is they'll live should they lose a job, etc. Fact though is losing a job makes people start thinking about other things and try to do other things they wouldn't have if they weren't broke. One of my neighbors was suspected of fraud and was fired. He had some money, bought some vans and was in the shipping business for about a year. Disaster struck and his business collapsed. He had to get a job and now works as an unskilled construction worker. What I learned from him was that we shouldn't be afraid of being broke. You lose a job, you can find another. It may not pay as well as the previous one but if you earn enough money to cover your basic needs, you'll be fine.

 

[DDNatureLover]

This isn't something I used to concern myself about too much, because when I was able bodied, i would do whatever was required to increase my income. I have worked two jobs, worked overtime, taken on some extra tasks such as house sitting or pet sitting, in order to bring in extra funds when needed. Although I always had physical limitations, I was still able to work. I always took precautions of paying for disability insurance just in case the worst ever happened. Unfortunately, I had just switched jobs when I became disabled, and because of that, the disability insurance wasn't in effect, and here I find myself in just that situation. I went back to school to enable myself to obtain better employment, and am now stuck with that debt on a very limited income, so life is a struggle. Sometimes regardless of how much you try to plan for a secure future, things happen to change those plans, and we're forced to make the best of it.

 

[solana]

Hi gracer, that's no silly question at all. If for instance you live in a country where there is no governmental support if you lose your job, you live in constant fear of losing your livelihood. I've seen it happen many times, especially to older people who often find it virtually impossible to find new employment. Just yesterday, on a public bus, I came across an elderly man carrying a big sign with him that said "Give your heart to this old man. He's got cancer." And next to his message was a news article about him, and how he was dismissed from the company that he worked for three years ago, and how he wasn't or isn't able to find a new job. I talked with the man for a while. He told me that he can't get any medical treatment because he's got no job and therefore no health insurance, and he's got no money to survive anymore.


So, the fear of getting broke is all to real...

 

[WorkAtHomeGal]

I do think about this too. Right now my financial situation is semi more stable because of my parents giving me work to do in their garden but this is seasonal, the weather will change and winter will come. And my biggest worry is what happens then? I still have bills and need money to get by. I do online stuff to but its so slow lately that I can't count on that income right now. I don't think I have a phobia of it though. For me it is just pent up worry about what will happen.

 

[rootle]

I think I may have a mild version of this. I'm still partially dependent on my parents for financial support and even now I feel a bit nervous about running out of money. My parents spend a lot more than they afford and their source of income isn't exactly a convention, infallible one. A lot of these expenses are because of me and it feels like its my fault. It makes me pretty uncomfortable because there a re a lot of expenses coming up in the near future and I don't know if they can cope with it. I need to earn quite a lot of money too but I don't know if I can get the work to be able to earn enough to help pay a part of my expenses.

 

[thecorinthian]

This was a fear for me when I just graduated college. I came into some money from relatives and everyday I feared losing it while I was just looking for a job. Financial anxiety can affect you positively or negatively I say this because it can inspire you to work better or ask for a raise and negatively because you might not try at all because you've never come into a significant amount of money. Asking your parents for financial advice might help especially if they've been fiscally responsible.

 

[pwarbi]

I've also noticed that this can happen to people that have suffered a bad few years and while they was once stable and money wasn't a concern, now it is and it's as if their worst nightmares have come true. I think if you are used to living life with money and being able to afford the things you want in life then all of a sudden going from that to struggling can have a huge mental impact on a person. A friend of mine lost all his money when his business collapsed a few years ago, and while people always say that money isn't everything (which it isn't) it's a lot easier to say that when you have it than when you don't.


With money in the bank, it's not just about material things and you being able to buy things that you need and want, along with that money comes self confidence and a peace that you know you have something to fall back on. If you don't have a penny to your name and your living day to day not knowing where your next meal is coming from or if your going to be able to pay the rent for the next week, it eventually as a massive impact on you and can send you spiralling into depression as we can all only struggle for a certain amount of time.

 

[gracer]

I see that most, if not all of us do have our own worries when it comes to financial security. I've learned a thing or two from each of your posts and I thank you all for sharing your views and experiences with this.


rootle I can also somehow relate with your situation right now. My dad's spending is way beyond what he can afford and it's now taking a toll even on me & my mom's combined savings. He has a lot of debt to pay but he doesn't have the means to pay it now that his business has gone too slow. Sometimes he would even ask money just for fueling up his car. I worry that one day, the money that I have saved for years including my mom's which we have combined together in one bank account will soon disappear because when he asks for my mom to help him with his debts, she would always succumb without asking me.

 

[beautifullybree]

My money concerns mostly just involve wanting to make it in life. I already feel broke, but I definitely can't afford to be any more broke. I think this stems from the cost of living in America. Even feeding yourself all the way to the light bill sucks that money out of your pocket like a vacuum cleaner. I don't know if I would consider my problem as a phobia as much as I would call it a legitimate concern.

 

[amy88]

I grew up where we were definitely not wealthy, and my dad the primary breadwinner was sick a lot with health ailments growing up too. So since I grew up knowing we weren't as well off as others, I think I've always been anxious about money and saving as an adult. I try and be pretty frugal, to make sure that my family isn't in a situation where we have no money coming in - I don't have particularly expensive taste and I always make sure some of our pay is always going into savings for a rainy day.

 

[Panic57]

I don't think it's neccessaryily that I'm afraid of being poor, I'm already there, I'm afraid of being poor for the rest of my life. I'm afraid that I'm going to work the rest of my life away without seeing the word and doing the things I love or that are on my bucket list. I'm supporting my mom and my little brother on top of my own college debts that I feel helpless but my mom has been unemployed chasing a 'get quick' rich schemes that haven't paid once in the last seven years. I can't do anything about it because I can't abandon my little brother but I'm exhausted and there is never enough money.

 

[Sarah8924]

I'm not afraid of being poor. I am poor... I'm afraid of not reaching my goals. I've recently came across the answers to all my prayers and I can finally see financial freedom in my close future.

 

[Joel7050]

I would see this as a little bit as common sense. Nobody wants to be broke or bankrupt. It would mean loosing possessions like cars and houses, being thrown out onto the streets, not being able to eat etc. I sure don't want that to happen to me and therefore spend money wisely. If you have this fear, I suggest keeping a safe untouchable storage of money. Enough to keep you comfortable. Having it right with you and physical, accessible at any time is best. Maybe a few hundred dollars worth of notes stowed away somewhere in your house. You'll know that if you ever go broke you will still have this emergency money and have nothing to worry about at all. If the fear comes back, just pull out the notes and reassure yourself.

 

[PetMom]

I am 62 years old with just enough money maybe for the next three years. I am looking for a job that I can do from home, as I do not drive due to health reasons. I am truely terrified, so I would say yes, the fear of being broke is legitimate.