It has been over a month since my father in law passed away suddenly and my boyfriend is trying to get back into his normal routine, but it definitely hasn’t been easy for him to try and live a normal life after having it fall apart due to the loss of a loved one.

My boyfriend recently went on a shopping spree and I can’t help but wonder if he is trying to ease the pain of trying to continue on with his life after losing his father so suddenly.  I am lucky to still have both parents in my life and therefore I can’t even begin to try and understand what my boyfriend, his sister, and his mother are going through during their time of grief.  Since I can’t comfort my boyfriend and his family during this very difficult time, all I can do is try to make everything else in our life a little bit easier for him.

I stood by silently and without judgement as I watched my boyfriend spend money during his shopping spree on everything from expensive meals to expensive electronics.  However I couldn’t help but wonder if his recent actions are a coping mechanism as he grieves the loss of his father.  This is the first time that my boyfriend has actually lost someone in his immediate family, and I think that he is trying a variety of methods to try and maintain some sort of reality in his life which currently seems to be a bad dream.

This is not the first time that I have experienced an out of control spending spree by family member when they lost a loved one. A few years ago my Aunt lost her husband in a tragic car accident.  Not so long afterwards she took our entire family on a two week vacation to the Caribbean. The vacation was definitely the trip of a lifetime but now that I look back on the experience I couldn’t help but wonder if that money could be better spent (or saved).

There are several emotions that people experience during their time of grief such as sadness, anger, denial, and regret; but people may also lose control of certain aspects in their life such as excessive personal spending, a breakdown in their daily routine, or a change in their career as a way to cope with the loss of a loved one.  Although I am sure that there are worse ways to cope with grief other than excessive personal spending such as excessive eating or substance abuse. So in the grand scheme of things a little spending never hurt nobody, after all it’s only money and we can’t take it with us.

The need to spend money may stem from the belief that money can buy happiness and if we spend money on expensive things it may void the feeling of complete emptiness that comes from the loss of a loved one. If people receive a lump sum of money from insurance proceeds it may be hurtful to keep the money.  Holding on to money that we gained from the loss of a life may act as a constant reminder that we no longer have that person in our lives; therefore we may want to get rid of it by spending it.

What is your best advice for dealing with the loss of a loved one?

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Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.


This entry was posted in Family, Money Mistakes by Kristina Tahnyak. Bookmark the permalink.

Avatar photo About Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.

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