“Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.” ― V.S. Naipaul

We all get peer pressure from all angles. From the clothes that we wear to how we behave, is all influenced by who we surrounds ourselves with.

Financial peer pressure is no different. Our finances and how we spend our money will always be influenced by who we associate with the most and who we keep in our close circle of friends. This could be both positive and negative influences.

How do you deal with financial peer pressure from friends, family and society?

Set your own expectations.

If you don’t have a mind of your own, you’ll just accept what others tell you. That’s not worth it. It’s important that you have your own expectations for what you want out of your money and your life.

Do you have your own expectations or are you just blindly moving forward?

Set money-related goals.

Do you have any financial goals? When I was 17 I knew that I wanted to buy a rental property. I didn’t want a car and I didn’t care about technology at the time. I just wanted my own condo to rent out and have for the future. So what did I do? I put all of my effort, energy, and savings into saving up for a rental property.

When I was in my early-20s, I was able to buy my own condo and use it as a rental property. This was my financial goal from the very beginning. If I didn’t set this goal, I would’ve aimlessly spent my money and gone through my teens/20s.

Work towards your goals.

As soon as I realized that I wanted to buy a condo, I did everything possible to work towards this goal. I did everything. I took extra shifts, found a new job, looked for higher-paying gigs, and started freelancing. I did everything possible to work towards this goal. I didn’t let anyone get in the way.

Was it easy? Of course not! I missed out on a bunch of parties and had to make sacrifices. However, at the end of the day I hit my financial goals. Your true friends will always be there for you. Even when you don’t want to spend any money.

Change your circle of friends.

The people you spend the majority of your time with, will impact your decisions. The harsh reality is that sometimes you might have to change your circle of friends or who you associate with to get ahead. You can’t get ahead if the same friends are always bringing you down.

For example, I used to hang out with a group of buddies that had to do bottle service and spend a fortune every single time that they went out. They couldn’t just use their creativity, go on a cheap night, or look for ways to save money. They had to go all out. After a few tries at this, I realized that this wasn’t the group of friends that I wanted to get close to so I cut ties with them.

You shouldn’t let your friends impact your financial goals. You don’t want to be stuck wondering at 30 where all of your money went. You’re young now and have the ability to get ahead. Will you get ahead now or regret not saving later on?

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Martin Dasko

Martin Dasko