The Money Drunk Quizzes

The Money Drunk Quizzes

from The Money Drunk by Mark Bryan & Julia Cameron

The Money Drunk has a strong, sensible and spiritually focused "12 steps" based system of addressing and healing each of these categories. It is used in the Debtors Anonymous Program.

Please check any answers that apply to you, even if “only when I’m stressed.”

Did you grow up "money drunk?"

1. ____ Did your family believe the rich got what they have by cheating or taking advantage of others? Only because they inherited money? Because they are lucky? Because they stole it? Because they are morally bankrupt? (check if any apply)

2. ____ Did either parent believe that money was evil, or made one evil?

3. ____ Did your family feel that poverty was morally superior?

4. ____ Did your family resent the poor--were they "welfare cheats" or "lazy"?

5. ____ Have you ever traded sex for financial security? (marriage counts here)

6. ____ Have you decided not to date or befriend others due to financial status? (yours or theirs?)

7. ____ Did your parents fail to teach you useful tools for managing money?

8. ____ Did your parents fight over money? (or were frequently cold, angry?)

9. ____ Was money a family secret? Were people uncomfortable when it was discussed?

10. ____ Were you teased or criticized for working, or for saving money? Was it considered "greedy" to want to dream big, or plan for a better future?

11. ____ Was wanting to go to college a stress for the family finances?

12. ____ Was investing money (in stock market , or business ventures) viewed as foolish? Did savings get dipped into casually? Were you forced to give your money to family?

Specific Types of "Money Drunk"

Are You a Big Deal Chaser?

1. ____ Do you (even secretly) think the world owes you a living?

2. ____ Do you have angry mood swings if your schemes are questioned?

3. ____ Does it cost you more to live than you make?

4. ____ Do you expect special treatment and special understanding when you cannot meet your financial commitments?

5. ____ Do you start strong and finish weak when your big deal pans out smaller than you hoped for?

6. ____ Does a lucky break have to be "sudden" and "impressive?"

7. ____ Do you refuse to watch your money since the big deal is going to make everything all right?

8. ____ Do you have a "magic $ number" ...the one that will make your life meaningful?

9. ____ Do you spend the big deal before you actually get the money?

10. ____ Do friends, family or co-workers tease you (or complain/resent) about the amount of time you spend working?

A Compulsive Spender?

1. ____ Do you buy things & hide them, or take them back after you realize you can't afford them?

2. ____ When you shop, do you get high, then crash (depression or guilt)?

3. ____ Do you think more about how to spend money than how to make it?

4. ____ Do you play credit-card roulette, filling up one, then moving to another?

5. ____ Do you impulsively buy things you don't need or can't afford?

6. ____ Do you shop to alter your mood or block uncomfortable feelings?

7. ____ Do you rationalize purchases and extravagant gifts as "business?"

8. ____ Do you find it impossible to stay within your budget or shopping list?

9. ____ Do you continually drain your savings account or fail to have one?

10. ____ Do you (or others) joke about your overflow of gadgets, clothes or accessories?

A Poverty Addict?

1. ____ Do you think there is some virtue in being poor?

2. ____ Do you forget (neglect) to collect the moneys owed to you?

3. ____ Do you pride yourself on NOT having nice or new clothing?

4. ____ Do you feel it is somehow more spiritual to be poor?

5. ____ When you have more money than you absolutely need to get by, do you spend it on other people instead of yourself?

6. ____ Do you under price your skills or feel guilty about asking people to pay you for your work? Are you afraid to ask for a raise, or to raise your fees?

7. ____ Do you deprive yourself of things you could really afford, or feel guilty when you don't?

8. ____ Do you pride yourself on living by your wits (broken stuff sold as bargains, free box, etc.)

9. ____ Do you lead a restricted life due to a perceived lack of money?

10. ____ Do you neglect the upkeep of your home, car or clothes because they're not worth it anyway, or you're just not the type to have well-cared for possessions?

A Maintenance Money Drunk?

1. ____ Is the pay the only thing you like about your job?

2. ____ Does your work conflict with your value system (family, ecology, etc.)

3. ____ Do you make "home improvements" (do the right thing) before "life improvements?"

4. ____ Have you cheated yourself out of self-enrichment to focus on excessive responsibility?

5. ____ Do you feel stuck? Does life feel like an endless loop of doing the right thing financially, and yet not having a sense of freedom or reward?

6. ____ Do you often think of, or complain about what you might have been, done or experienced?

7. ____ Do you feel sad when you think about what you wanted to do in your life?

8. ____ Have you become apathetic about work, family, home or your self development?

9. ____ Do you feel bored, or boring? Have you denied yourself a new project, or experience without really trying to make it work?

10. ____ Does this line of questioning make you a little sad?

11. ____ A Cash Co-Dependent?

12. ____ Do you co-sign loans, or pay to ease others' problems, even when you think they're foolish or self destructive?

13. ____ Do money problems or beliefs rob your partner of deeper moral values?

14. ____ Do you worry about how to protect your own assets in your relationship?

15. ____ Do you tell your partner that you make/have less than you actually do?

16. ____ Are you deliberately vague about how you spend or invest your money so that your partner won't challenge you?

17. ____ Do your friends, partner or members of your family see you as a bank or "the one who usually pays for everything"?

18. ____ Are you afraid to say no to your partner or friends/family about money?

19. ____ Do you consider "money madness" your partner's fatal flaw?

20. ____ Do you feel you have to baby-sit his/her spending?

21. ____ Do you ever complain to others about your partner's money habits?

These quizzes were designed to be rated as follows:

YES to 2 in a category, you may have a problem;

YES to 3, probably;

YES to 4 or more? You may be locked into an unhealthy pattern.