5 Songs That Could Ruin Your Finances

April 13, 2016

I love how music can pump you up, calm you down, soothe a broken heart, bring back old memories and generally set the tone in any situation. Ever notice yourself singing along while grocery shopping? That’s not on accident. Those songs are strategically selected to make you stay longer and buy more.

There are lots of great songs out there that have positive money messages (here are 5), but there are also plenty that send the wrong idea to listeners. At the risk of sounding like a boring fuddy duddy, I came up with some financial guidance to help solve these artists’ money blues. Try not to make these mistakes with your money:

Last Friday Night – Katy Perry: There are plenty of things mentioned in this song that moms everywhere wouldn’t approve of, but the part about maxing out your credit cards is what gets me. First of all, you don’t have to max out your cards to have fun and second, you definitely won’t be doing it all again next Friday without some serious financial discipline during the week to pay down the balance. Just in case, here’s our Debt Blaster calculator to help reign in that debt, Katy.

Time Of Our Lives – Pitbull: I actually understand what it’s like to take a look at your bank account balance and know that there’s not enough in there to cover upcoming bills. What I’m not a fan of is going out to “get up in this club” and blowing what money you do have when you know your rent is going to be late. If Pitbull just used the No-Tracking Budget to make sure he has enough set aside to cover bills, I bet he could pay his rent on time AND still have a good time.

Mo Money Mo Problems – Notorious BIG: I said this phrase to a friend in jest once, and he shot back with, “I bet the panhandler down the street would disagree.” That really made me think. It’s true that lottery winners and other people who strike it rich tend to have people coming out of the woodwork asking for money, and the whole idea is that we wouldn’t have these problems if we didn’t have money, but let’s not confuse that with thinking if you didn’t have money, you would have fewer problems. They’d just be different problems.

One of my favorite bits of wisdom to share is that if we all threw our problems in a big pile and could pick any ones we wanted, we’d all take our own back. Remember that the next time you get stressed about your finances (even if it IS a lack of having enough) and remember that it could always be worse. Shift your focus to what you DO have and you just might be surprised at how you begin to see more of those good things in your life.

If I Had A Million Dollars – Barenaked Ladies: So if you actually had a million dollars, you probably shouldn’t buy a llama or an emu. Here are some things you could do though: pay off debt, establish your emergency fund, max out your 401(k), or do something fun and then save the rest for the future. DON’T quit your job unless you’re pretty close to retiring already.

Just Got Paid – ‘N SYNC: One thing I could conclude about this is that Friday night is a bad night for your finances! Seriously though, I know plenty of people who celebrate “Paycheck Friday” with a “treat yo’self!” attitude and then spend the rest of the week complaining that they’re broke. It’s fine to cut loose and celebrate the weekend. Just make sure you’re putting something aside for the future, paying your bills and saving for budget-breaking expenses before blowing the rest on Friday night.

What about you? What are your favorite money songs? Share them with me on our Facebook page or email me and I’ll include them in a future post.