The Post Office at Midnight

Here’s a family joke: Our brother has somehow let my sister down in some innocuous way that drives here crazy. Her commiserating friend says, “Y’know I hate to say it, but he’s kind of lazy.” Kelly snaps back with, “He’s not lazy, he’s…he’s incompetent!” We joke because Patrick is a very successful man now, but in his 20’s he once called Kelly to see if he should eat a sandwich that smelled a little funny. And according to Ray Linder’s book What Will I Do with my Money, this is a personality type difference that affects why and how we go shopping.

Half the personality types out there like my brother (and me) prefer to gather information when making decisions about the outside world — like the phone call to Kell — whereas the other half just take a bite or trash it. When it comes to money, this is a big difference. It also explains why I thought taxes were due on Monday this year, or maybe I’m just incompetent and lazy too.

But laziness doesn’t explain ALL of it. Types like Patrick and me — Organic Freedoms (NFPs), Smart Freedoms (NTPs), and Funs (SPs) —  prefer to manage our money in a flexible way. We’re spontaneous and open to possibilities and feel more comfortable when we’re researching a purchase than we do after we’ve actually bought it. We are the penultimate “go with the flow” types and that means we take things as they come and don’t always plan appropriately. We tend to leave things to the last minute and many of us can tell you exactly what the post office looks like at midnight on April 15th.

Contrast this with the Kelly’s of the world — Classics (SJs), Smart Structures (NTJs) and Organic Structures (NFJs) — who prefer to manage their finances with structure and planning. They are the big list makers who see finances as something to make a decision about and then move one. Another item on their list of things to do and check off. They feel more comfortable with a purchase after it’s DONE. They’re the ones who were watching the crazy people at the post office on the news this year on, um, on April 17th.