Financial Fog: Why High Earners Still Feel Broke
Financial fog is the feeling you get when you open your bank app and sense that all your money has disappeared. There has been no major purchase and no emergency, but the balance is still less than it should be and you can’t work out why.
If that sounds familiar, then you’re not the only one, and you are not bad with money. According to Moona Ssahni, former CFO of the Rajasthan Royals and author of Money Karma, your money isn’t going wrong; it’s reflecting you. Financial fog is what that reflection looks like when you aren’t paying attention.
What Financial Fog Looks Like in Real Life: Meet Rohan
Consider Rohan: he is 25, holds a top job in the technology sector, has a good salary, and has no equated monthly instalments. In theory, he is doing all the right things. Nevertheless, on the 20th of each month he finds himself broke.
If you consider where his money actually ends up, it’s things like five coffees during the week, a late-night food order after a long day, and a ₹499 subscription that he had forgotten he had agreed to. None of these items by themselves seems serious. Yet together they slowly squeeze out the entire month.
What is clear is Rohan’s attitude on the matter. He isn’t bothered by the spending at all. The point that troubles him is that he carried it out without having actually made a choice. That is the essence of financial fog: the money went, but he had not made a decision.
High Income Is Not the Same as Clarity
We often think that earning more money will solve all our problems; we believe that a higher salary will eventually eliminate the stress.
That is seldom the case. As Ssahni says, clarity arises not from income but from intention. A person who earns a lot but has no plan can be just as confused as someone who earns much less, and financial fog continues with every pay rise.
There’s another point concealed in this idea: what is known as financial fog is actually unspoken fatigue. When you’ve had a long day filled with work, making decisions, attending meetings and getting caught in traffic, you’ll be tired. People who are tired don’t compare prices or question a subscription; instead they simply tap ‘order’ and go on.
Coping vs. Choosing
We now come to the main idea of the book: the money you have reflects the areas in which you coped, not those in which you made choices.
Look at the difference: choosing is equivalent to saying, “I want this and it is worth it to me,” while coping is similar to saying, “I’ve had a terrible day, so I deserve this.” In both cases you spend money. Only one of them involves intention.
That is why financial fog isn’t simply a case of bad money management; it is money karma at work. Each rupee you spend sends out a signal regarding how you were feeling at that time. When you realise this, your bank statement ceases to function as a report card and starts to act as a mirror.
Three Questions to Ask Your Money
How then can you go back to clarity without feeling guilty or ashamed? Begin with these three simple questions:
- Where did my money go? Let’s look at the facts first, without forming any judgment.
- Why did it go there? Was that a decision or merely a method of coping?
- How do I want to feel about it next time? This one shows you the way ahead, not the way back.
The third question is the most important of the three; it changes the emphasis from punishment to guidance. Rather than focusing on feeling bad about last month, you’re setting out how you want next month to feel.
Clear Your Financial Fog With a Sunday Money Check-In
There’s no need for a complicated system. Just choose one calm moment every week, for example Sunday evening, and open your bank app with a cup of tea. Then ask the three questions listed above, one after the other.
Initially, you might only perceive the patterns; eventually, you’ll begin to pick them up before they occur. It’s in that brief pause that happens between feeling tired and tapping ‘pay’ that clarity starts and financial fog begins to lift.
The Takeaway
The fact that you’re feeling broke by the 20th doesn’t imply that your income is too low or that there’s some fault with you; more usually it means that financial fog has set in and your spending is taking place automatically. The solution isn’t to adopt a more stringent budget; it’s to increase your intention, addressing one question at a time.
Money Karma was written by Moona Ssahni and is published by Om Books International. If this post seemed to describe your month, save it for your next check-in and pass it on to someone who is always broke by the 20th.
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