Hi. Is it my place to start a topic? IDK, I’m nervous.
This might be a fun topic for a Saturday night?
I am a Cancer sun with a Scorpio moon and Cancer rising. When I was younger, I consistently tested as an ISFP but when I took another Meyer’s Briggs online test just this past month I got INTP. So idk. (took the test here https://www.16personalities.com/)
I love to talk about silly personality typing stuff but thought it could also be a serious conversation about how your personality informs your budgeting/spending/money management.
Like, right now I’m on an intensely frugal kick but knowing my personality I’m worried it’s not sustainable. In the past I’ve had periods of a few months where I exercise a lot a lot, then will go a full year without exercising at all. I’m trying to figure out how I can turn my new-found frugality into recurring lifestyle habits that will serve me for years to come.
Ooooh, this is fun! I don’t know about Myers Briggs, but I know that I’m a and am definitely kind of stubborn. If we choose to believe in it, I’d say that I have too much risk aversion and miss opportunities to gain more money…but do well at saving
I love this stuff! If I remember correctly I am an INTJ. I’m also a Sagittarius, not sure about the another parts of my sign but I do know that much.
My tendencies that I’ve noticed are that I have to build things like frugality into my everyday life as habits and I can’t go too extreme or else I end up rebelling against it. I’m the same way with healthy eating and working out. I do so much better with incremental changes over time than with a giant overhaul all at once. All that being said, I also tend to be too rigid. Once I’ve written something into my “not doing that” category I act as if it’s written in stone and sometimes I need to be reminded to re-evaluate when circumstances change in order to make the best choice.
I’m so interested to hear how others feel that their personalities and signs influence their lives, thanks for starting this thread!
Relatable! I’ve successfully almost entirely eliminated my beauty spending. I had a whole collection of makeup that I even pared down a little. If I run out of foundation I will buy a new one ($12) or replace a mascara ($8) but I no longer spend anything on skincare beyond cheap drugstore face wash + moisturizer + witch hazel. This felt really easy because I’m “done” with beauty advertising + shopping.
In another area though, I struggle with accepting the 2-3 times a month I eat at a restaurant. This is almost always fast-casual anyway. Like just today I spent $7 on lunch for a hot dog and a plate of fries – but I mostly made that decision because I was out with my sister and she was getting food. In those situations I don’t want to guilt myself for needing to eat and not being at home even though I HATE these kind of food spending situations.
My sister also told me today that I “choose the weirdest hills to die on” when spending or not spending money.
Fun. I am not an astrology person, but usually end up with ENFJ as my personality type. I am reading back through the description of that type (https://www.16personalities.com/enfj-personality) and these part jumped out:
"The interest ENFJs have in others is genuine, almost to a fault – when they believe in someone, they can become too involved in the other person’s problems, place too much trust in them. Luckily, this trust tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as ENFJs’ altruism and authenticity inspire those they care about to become better themselves. But if they aren’t careful, they can overextend their optimism, sometimes pushing others further than they’re ready or willing to go
…
Overly Idealistic – People with the ENFJ personality type can be caught off guard as they find that, through circumstance or nature, or simple misunderstanding, people fight against them and defy the principles they’ve adopted, however well-intentioned they may be. They are more likely to feel pity for this opposition than anger, and can earn a reputation of naïveté.
Too Selfless – ENFJs can bury themselves in their hopeful promises, feeling others’ problems as their own and striving hard to meet their word. If they aren’t careful, they can spread themselves too thin, and be left unable to help anyone.
Too Sensitive – While receptive to criticism, seeing it as a tool for leading a better team, it’s easy for ENFJs to take it a little too much to heart. Their sensitivity to others means that ENFJs sometimes feel problems that aren’t their own and try to fix things they can’t fix, worrying if they are doing enough." I recently filed for divorce from a very dependent person who basically never supported more than 40% of his own needs and 0% of our son’s, financially. I think I put a lot of trust in his word and believed he was going to do x y and z and get better, and got way too involved. Dependent relationships aren’t a pattern for me, but my only marriage clearly was one!
So I went to that website and took the test because I couldn’t remember for sure which one I am, apparently I’m an INFJ not an INTJ. Their little explanation thing was very relevant to me, particularly about being private. Really interesting stuff! https://www.16personalities.com/infj-personality
I took a personal development course several years ago that included the MBTI. Apparently a lot of INTJs shift to being INFJs as they age. I was one of them. It turned out to be really useful information as the next job I got involved a lot of mentoring, which turned out to be the thing I liked best about it!
I’m an ENFJ for MBTI (what my boyfriend always calls “astrology for atheists”), and Gemini sun, Pisces moon, Leo rising in Western astrology and a fire tiger in Chinese astrology.
I’m way better with money than the above suggests, ahahahaha. That being said, I think part of that is that I’ve learned how I function (or don’t) and what makes me happy. If I know how I behave under different types of stress, I can plan for bad times. If I know what brings me fulfillment in life, I know I can seek out ways to get that fulfillment that will be less expensive and more effective. And in those points – what stresses me, what makes me happy, how I basically operate as a person – that’s where my MBTI is especially accurate, and was especially helpful for me as a tool to understand myself.
The test gave me ENFP-T. Every time I take this test (every few years) it gives me a different answer. I am definitely introverted compared to average- confident talking to groups/introducing yourself" so those questions skews things. All the ENFP cons are right but most of the pros are wrong. If I swap the E for an I- INFP is so wrong it’s funny.
Capricorn and year of the monkey. I came across a site that mixed the zodiac and astrological signs to give a personality reading and it was bizarrely accurate. Can’t seem to fine it again though.
Fun! I am an INTP (but sometimes tending to INTJ) in Meyer-Briggs, an Aries with an Aquarius moon and Leo rising (although, I wonder if the chart was done wrong (my sister did it years ago) - sun and moon signs are pretty accurate (at least, they used to be, they seem less so with time maybe…) but rising sign is like direct opposite. I’m also a fire dragon in the Chinese zodiac. When I read horoscopes for these signs, they are often quite perceptive, though I think they are writting in such a way, and are interpreted in such a way, that they might be “read” as true for almost any individual… I’m also an Obliger in the Four Tendencies analysis, and boy is THAT ever accurate (and I really rather hate that about myself honestly). Being an Obliger means you often get walked all over (read: JOB) if you are not careful (and really, even if you are).
Well that was interesting. I got INFJ and the Friendships section was pretty eye opening and 100% what I do. The Relationship and Career was spot on too, but the Friendship stuff really hit home since I struggle in that area:
it can be a challenge to get to know Advocates, as they are very private, even enigmatic. Advocate personalities don’t readily share their thoughts and feelings, not unless they are comfortable, and since those thoughts and feelings are the basis for Advocate friendships, it can take time and persistence to get to know them. Meanwhile, Advocates are very insightful and have a particular knack for seeing beyond others’ facades, interpreting intent and compatibility quickly and easily, and weeding out those who don’t share the depth of their idealism.
AND THEN:
Advocates are often perfectionistic, looking for ultimate compatibility, and yet also look for someone with whom they can grow and improve in tandem. Needless to say, this is a tall order, and Advocates should try to remember that they are a particularly rare personality type, and even if they find someone compatible in that sense, the odds that they will also share every interest are slim. If they don’t learn to meet others halfway and recognize that the kind of self-improvement and depth they demand is simply exhausting for many types, Advocates are likely end up abandoning healthy friendships in their infancy, in search of more perfect compatibilities.
BOOM ROASTED.
ETA: Incorrect things were mostly about not being able to take criticism (not a prob for me but I hate conflict), and perfectionist (lol, nope).
Haha, yeah that was really accurate. I think there are pros and cons of being how we are with people, but I’m definitely trying to compensate for my natural tendency to cut and run. Seeing it written out helps. I do appreciate my BS sensor though, that’s saved me a ton of time!
I don’t know that I always have a “cause” in the traditional sense either, do you? Like I feel that I do have a purpose and a cause personally, but I think when people read that politics or activism probably come to mind, and I’m not really in that sphere at all. I’m more of the ‘philosophical shifts and emotional shifts are the way to change the world’ school of thought. You?
There’s a great Oh No Ross and Carrie podcast episode on cold reading where they talk about it a lot and interview a “mind reader” who basically explains how to do it.
Yeah, H always tells me that I’m too quick to cut and run with relationships sometimes but I argue that when someone shows you who they are you should believe them the first time. Especially with work and those kinds of relationships. I do see the value in reining that in a little bit thanks to him so I try to balance that out. He worries that if I can be so quick to do that with new people that one day I’ll decide I’m done with him. I’ve tried to explain that he and I have built up such a foundation of trust and respect over the last 10 years (and we both continue to work at and cultivate that relationship) that it would have to be something huge to cause me to do that, whereas if a new person shows me that they are dishonest or whatever I simply don’t give them the opportunity to build that same kind of foundation and it never progresses from there.
I also had some pretty major friendships in my teenage years crumble once I got to college which showed me that I had invested a lot more into the relationships than the other side had, so I feel the need to protect myself from that kind of thing again. On the flip side of that I have a few truly lifelong friends and I would choose them 100 times over having many “regular friend” level friendships. So I guess I feel like the way I am has served me well in terms of the people I have in my life. Where I get into trouble is with people like my MIL who (in my eyes) has proved over and over that she only cares about herself and has repeatedly lost my trust. Not to mention the lifetime of fucked up things she has done to H. That makes me completely uninterested in a relationship with her but H feels obligated to have some relationship with her & feels somewhat required to take care of her since she’s his mom. And family is a whole different animal but my personality holds true there, I might give family more chances than an outsider but I still have a pretty firm limit on what I’ll tolerate.
I don’t know that I have a “cause” per se, but if I had to name it I feel like my cause is more like what you’ve said. I hold my beliefs really closely and feel very strongly about them and I try to live in a way that reflects that but I’m not hugely political (in an outward way, I definitely have very strong political opinions that I’ll talk about if the situation calls for it) or anything like that. It burns me out too quickly because of how strongly I feel about it. I definitely agree that philosophical and emotional shifts are the way to change the world.
and am definitely kind of stubborn. If we choose to believe in it, I’d say that I have too much risk aversion and miss opportunities to gain more money…but do well at saving
with an Aquarius moon and Leo rising (although, I wonder if the chart was done wrong (my sister did it years ago) - sun and moon signs are pretty accurate (at least, they used to be, they seem less so with time maybe…) but rising sign is like direct opposite. I’m also a fire dragon 
in the Chinese zodiac. 
When I read horoscopes for these signs, they are often quite perceptive, though I think they are writting in such a way, and are interpreted in such a way, that they might be “read” as true for almost any individual… 
I’m also an Obliger in the Four Tendencies analysis, and boy is THAT ever accurate (and I really rather hate that about myself honestly). Being an Obliger means you often get walked all over (read: JOB) if you are not careful (and really, even if you are).