My 5 Financial Pet Peeves (biggest “icks”)
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From time to time I’ll see a video or post that inspires content ideas. And recently I saw a post where a person broke down the biggest pet peeves about their industry.
This got me thinking about my own money irritants (or things that rub me the wrong way).
I don’t have a lot of financial pet peeves, but I’m passionate about the ones I do have – and some of you might understand where I’m coming from.
1. Humble bragging
This isn’t my number one pet peeve, but it’s pretty high on my list.
This has always bothered me. Even as a preteen – before I knew what humble bragging was – I would constantly pick up on this behavior and it drove me nuts.
For anyone who might be confused about the definition, it’s basically when someone tries to mask bragging by complaining or making a humble statement.
They might complain about their job, but instead of explaining what they dislike, they use the complaint to brag about themselves. It’s an excuse to mention their high salary or pat themselves on the back for dealing with the stress.
For the longest time, I never really knew why this bothered me so much. Then I read an article explaining why humble bragging is more irritating than outright bragging, and it all made sense.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, if you want to brag about something – just do it. Don’t insult my intelligence by disguising it with humility – as if I don’t know what you’re doing.
2. People who think ALL advice should apply to them
As a content creator, I don’t give personalized advice. I’m talking to an audience, which obviously includes people at different financial stages. Some people know a lot about money, some people know a little, and others know nothing at all.
When creating talking points, I make sure to consider everyone in the audience. Sometimes, this means including an “obvious” tip in the video. Because while a person with some financial knowledge might already know this step, others might not. And if I don’t include it, they could miss an important detail.
In my mind that makes perfect sense, and I assumed it would make sense to others.
I can’t count how many times someone has left a comment asking why I’m being Captain Obvious and stating, “I already know this.”
Okay, good for you – but what’s obvious to you might not be obvious to someone else. So if it’s need-to-know information, I’m going to include it
3. Knocking another person’s hustle
I follow CNBC Make It, and periodically they’ll run a story where they interview someone making good money through a side hustle or passive income stream.
There was a couple who made six figures in three years renting out their backyard swimming pool, another guy making close to $50,000 a year with a tiny house Airbnb, and stories of freelance writers like myself, dog walkers, and other gigs that don’t require much out-of-pocket to start.
I think those types of articles are great, especially for people looking to replace or supplement their income and find something different, maybe something that offers more time freedom.
But the comments aren’t always pretty. Some are positive, but many are negative, ranging from “People are lazy, nobody wants to work hard anymore” to “People nowadays think they’re too good to work a regular job” and other stuff like that.
For the life of me, I don’t get it. I don’t understand the mentality of some people. Unless you’re clocking in somewhere or getting a salary from an employer, they think you don’t really work. If you have a traditional job, a 9 to 5, and you love it, that’s great. But some people are entrepreneurs, they’re creative, they want flexibility. What’s wrong with choosing a path that they find fulfilling?
4. People who give bad money advice
Why do people do this, seriously? I am completely stumped.
I don’t know if it’s a case of misery loves company—they’re not doing well financially and want to drag others down with them. Or maybe they’re in denial and think they’re doing better than they actually are. I really don’t know.
I’ve encountered people who didn’t have a strong background in money matters because they told me, yet they were the first to give money advice. And it would be bad advice.
It’s one thing to make money mistakes and then advise a person not to do what you did. But that doesn’t always happen, and some people will tell a person to do the exact thing that put them in a bad place financially.
And not to be a know-it-all, but I have spoken up before and nicely said that’s not really accurate. You might do this instead, and here’s why.
5. One-upping people
This really gets under my skin because while I get that it can happen by accident, I feel like some people do it on purpose. It’s like they go out of their way to one-up others and consistently make them feel inferior. That really bothers me.
It’s not okay to downplay someone else’s experiences or excitement just to make yourself look better. That kind of behavior creates unnecessary competition.
Life already throws enough challenges without others trying to make us feel insignificant.