Let’s start by stating the obvious. We all lie to ourselves. We humans are constantly telling ourselves things to justify our behavior and make us feel better about the decisions we are making. In some ways it’s just a coping mechanism. If we didn’t tell ourselves these lies, we may lose all motivation to go forward. However, more often than not, these lies we tell ourselves are doing nothing but preventing us from making any real progress in our lives.

Today I wanted to outline some of the most common lies we tell ourselves when it comes to our money. Maybe, just maybe, this will prevent you from using some of these lies.

1. I DESERVE IT, EVEN IF I CAN'T AFFORD IT

Treat yourself. YOLO! Don't pass up a great deal. I haven't splurged in so long. These are just a few of the rationalizations we use to convince ourselves that what we are doing is OK.

Truthfully, there is only one reason you "deserve" something. That reason is that you can afford it. If you have worked, and saved to have the money to buy something, go right ahead, and enjoy it. But if you are using a phrase like the ones above, you probably already know that you shouldn't be making that purchase.

Instead of treating yourself to things you can’t afford, look for ways to put yourself into a position where you can afford those things.

2. THERE IS GOOD DEBT, AND BAD DEBT

I will get a lot of heat for this one but hear me out. For some reason, we love to assign these labels to debt as a way of moral justification for why we have it. Mortgages and student loans are "good", while credit cards are "bad".

The problem with that thinking is that it neglects the fact that all loans, no matter what they are for, come with interest. And that interest is taking a huge bite out of your cashflow. Calling something a "good" debt, often makes us feel OK to have it sitting around for a while chipping away at it, rather than getting down to business and paying it off quickly. Stop using these labels as an excuse and get serious about getting debt out of your life.

I will concede that while there may not be such a thing as “good” debt, there may be something we can call necessary debt. For most people, saving up to buy a house with cash is not realistic. Go ahead and take on “necessary” debt. Just try to keep yourself from calling it “good” debt and allowing it to follow you around like a shadow for the rest of your life.

3. I WILL SAVE MORE LATER

1 in 6 of us aren't saving the recommended 15% towards retirement. 1 in 5 of us aren't saving anything at all. This may come as a shock, but your habits will not change, simply because time has passed.

If you want to get serious about saving, start today. Start small if you need to. $10 a month. Then commit to raising that number at regular intervals. Your savings is no going to grow because time has passed, it grows because you become disciplined with your cashflow.

4. WANTING MORE IS GREEDY

Being greedy is bad. Wanting a secure the financial future for yourself, and generations to come is not.

When we tell ourselves we shouldn't want more than we have, we agree to settle for less. And we may be tricking ourselves into thinking it's OK that we are not doing something (or anything) to improve our financial situation. We call this a complacency mindset, and it will prevent you from making any sort of progress towards your goals.

At the end of the day, money is nothing more than a tool. It is a tool that can be used to fill your home with unnecessary extravagance, or it can be used to make sure all of your future children and grandchildren can go to school without debt. It can be used to travel the world, or it can be used to enrich the lives of people less fortunate than you.

One of the truest things I have ever heard about this relationship between money and greed, is that money simply makes someone more of what they already are. Meaning, if you are already greedy, money will make you more so. If you are already generous, money will make you more generous. What it likely won’t do it change you from someone with a heart of gold, to someone who hoards their pennies like Scrooge McDuck.

5. I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SAVE FOR MY FUTURE

To be fair, for many people this isn't a lie. They do have time to prepare for the future. The problem is that this phrase really just represents procrastination.

It's the rationale we use when we have a hard time managing our negative feelings and uncertainties about our financial future. And it makes us forget about the years of growth and interest we lose out on by dragging our feet.

The earlier you start, the less you have to do. Stop waiting.

To put hard numbers behind this, consider the rule of 72. If you are new to financial planning, what this rule states, is that if you divide 72 by the growth rate on an investment, the result will be the number of years it will take for the investment to double. If we take a rough estimate of market returns at 10% that means your money should be expected to double every seven years.

Now, take that example forward to retirement. If someone worked and saved from the time they were 30 years old until they were 65, they may be able to amass something like 2 million dollars. If they had started at the age of 23, they would have a whopping 4 million dollars. Plus, they could have stopped saving completely when they turned 58. It really cannot be overstated just how powerful it can be to get started on your savings early.

6. I CAN’T SELL IT NOW. IT WILL COME BACK UP

We have all been here. Every single one of us has bought an investment, often times a single stock, only to watch it plummet in value. It sucks. It hurts. But the only reason you think it is going to come back up, is because you desperately hope it will.

Really what is happening here is called the sunk cost fallacy. Basically, there is no logical reason to expect the stock to rise, we just in our minds can’t stomach selling it for a loss, because to us it should be worth at least what we paid for it.

Here is the question to start asking yourself when you are in this situation. Take whatever that stock is worth after it has crashed. If you had that much cash on your kitchen table, what would you do with it. If the answer is “I’d buy more of the stock that’s crashing” then by all means do that. But if your answer is anything else, it is time to sell that stock and move on.

7. TRADITIONAL IRA’S ARE BETTER BECAUSE YOUR TAX RATE WILL BE LOWER IN RETIREMENT

I had to put at least one tax planning lie on there. The reason you tell yourself this is because you want that tax break right now. The reality is that none of us have any idea what the tax rates, or brackets will look like by the time you retire.

Here is what we do know. If you are 30 years old, any money you invest will likely double 4 times by the time you retire. At least. If you are investing $10,000 would you rather pay taxes on that same $10,000 right now, or pay on $160,000 in retirement. I don’t care what the rates are. I’m paying now.

I’d love to know if you can think of any other money lies we tell ourselves. I’ll keep updating and adding to this list as we go.

WHAT MONEY LIES DO YOU TELL YOURSELF