Mindful Money Matters The Money You Donât Let Yourself Spend.
by: BTM - Tue, 10 Mar 2026
Business consultant Pria Masson writes about money, mindset and the habits that shape financial well-being. With a background in finance and a masterâs degree in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from Kingâs College London, she offers practical insights to help readers make more intentional financial choices.
I once had a client, letâs call him Sam. Sam and I were unpacking his money psychology and understanding his patterns. He was admirably disciplined in a way that was visible to everyone around him. He looked after his body, his business was very successful, and he was prudent with every expense. He ran what he called a âlean household and workplaceâ â which he told me was the reason for his success. After a few interactions, I asked him about something I noticed: when did he last evaluate whether his relationship with money still worked for him, rather than just for the version of him that had built everything he now had?
If it works, why question it?
Because working is not the same as working well; and, working well doesnât always mean it is good for you in your current circumstances. For example, if you create a million-dollar company with complete austerity, somewhere, perhaps you forgot that you now actually have a million dollars. Do you need the same level of restraint or, can you perhaps, consciously choose whether you want to use that money or not?
Why do we resist?
When Sam was young, money was not tight, but it was hard-earned. Long hours, no indulgences and careful accounting of every cent were the values he absorbed.
When he asked for something, he usually got it, but not before a lecture on how the value of money, how hard it was to earn and that once you spend, you can never stop. Some of this is true, sometimes. None of it can ever be true always. Yet, long after circumstances changed, the same voices played in his mind, shaping his spending decisions, his investment choices, and his relationship with money, without ever being updated.
Whatâs going on in the brain
When spending consistently triggers negative emotion early in life, the brain freezes that association. If you resist expenditure long enough the anticipatory dopamine that is meant to flow to our brain with the pleasure of âmoney well spentâ stops flowing. What is less obvious is what happens next: the pattern becomes automatic. The brain stops generating the impulse to spend in the first place, which means it no longer feels like restraint.
It just feels like how you are with money. If you are reading this thinking that sounds acceptable, consider that dopamine governs not just spending but the anticipation of reward broadly. When that signal is suppressed consistently around money, the pleasure of earning it can eventually follow. The discipline stops being a choice and starts being a ceiling.
What this means practically
The reason Sam came to me was that the logical part of his brain knew he had the money to live the life he wanted. He knew he could trust himself not to overspend. Yet his financial behaviour was not following that understanding, and he wanted to know why.
Like Sam, once you can see why you make the financial choices that you do, you free up the part of your brain that asks: âBuy why donât I?â Whether you choose to change is yours to decide. But this month, when restraint is intentional and practised consciously, it may be worth asking whether the financial restraint you carry the rest of the year is equally chosen, or simply a familiar pattern.
Explore more of her work at
www.priamasson.com
@coachingwithpria
Digital Edition
Bahrain This Month
July 2026
Related Articles
Why Full-Funnel Marketing Wins in Bahrainâs Digital Economy
Wed, 08 Jul 2026
The WhatsApp Governance Problem
Wed, 08 Jul 2026
Trust in the Corporate World, Does It Really Matter?
Wed, 08 Jul 2026
