Illustration of Saints with four temperaments and money habits in Catholic life
Updated: August 5, 2025

How Do Temperaments Impact Money?

What does your temperament have to do with your bank account?

In this episode of The Catholic Money Show, we explore how the four temperaments and money are more connected than you might think. Author Rosemary Berry joins Amanda to unpack how personality impacts financial habits—and how the saints show us the way to grow in both virtue and stewardship From saints to spending habits, this conversation dives into how our God-given wiring influences everything from budgeting styles to generosity—and even financial tension in marriage.

Rosemary shares insights from her book Piety and Personality: The Temperaments of the Saints and unpacks how each temperament—choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic—handles money, relationships, and virtue differently. Whether you’re a strong-willed strategist or a fun-loving spender, this episode will help you grow in financial wisdom rooted in who God made you to be.

Resources Mentioned:

🧠 What Your Temperament Says About Your Relationship with Money

Are you wired to save or to spend? To budget meticulously… or avoid it altogether?

Turns out, your approach to money isn’t just based on habits or upbringing—it’s also deeply connected to your God-given temperament.

In this episode of The Catholic Money Show, Amanda Teixeira talks with Catholic author and temperament expert Rosemary McGuire Berry to unpack how your natural personality type (a.k.a. temperament) can shape your relationship with money—for better or worse.

✝️ How the Four Temperaments and Money Habits Intersect

The Church has long recognized the concept of temperaments: choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Rosemary shares how saints throughout Church history embodied each type—and how understanding yours can bring both spiritual and practical growth.

When it comes to finances, this lens is especially helpful. Knowing your temperament can explain:

  • Why you save every penny or blow your paycheck on joy purchases
  • Why you and your spouse approach money totally differently
  • How to find peace and balance in your financial habits
  • Where your strengths lie—and where you’re likely to struggle

💡 From Saintly Wisdom to Budgeting Reality: How Understanding the Four Temperaments Can Improve Your Finances

Rosemary shares how budgeting looks radically different depending on your temperament. While a choleric might thrive on spreadsheets and goals, a phlegmatic may need gentler structures. Amanda and Rosemary also discuss how to reframe budgeting as a “spending plan”—a mindset shift that resonates with more temperaments and encourages stewardship over restriction.

Whether you’re just beginning your financial journey or deep into your budgeting life, learning about your temperament can be a powerful key to peace with money.

📌 Key Topics in This Episode:

  • The spiritual and emotional impact of knowing your temperament
  • Budgeting, generosity, and saving strategies based on personality
  • What saints can teach us about temperaments and holiness
  • How to approach financial conversations in marriage with grace
  • Encouragement for those who’ve felt “bad with money” based on temperament-driven behaviors

🧭 Final Takeaway

“You’re not broken. You’re built.”
Understanding your temperament helps you stop fighting your wiring—and start cooperating with grace.

God made you on purpose. Learning how your temperament impacts your financial life is one more step toward freedom, virtue, and peace in the way you handle money.