As any therapist will tell you, conflicts about money are usually not about money. They’re about you – or rather “your issues.”

So for my final Color of Money Book Club selection this year, I’m offering a pick that isn’t just about money. Why not take a break from the commercial hustle of the season and sit down with a book that may make you face why you’re a spendthrift or why “budget” is a cuss word for you? Or maybe you need to let go of the fears that make you a miser.

Befitting the holiday season, the book club selection for December is “The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge: 5 Principles to Transform Your Relationship With Money” by Ted Klontz, Rick Kahler and Brad Klontz.

The authors effectively use the transformation of Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” to make their point that “it’s your relationship with money that is key.” Scrooge makes a good case study, as does Bob Cratchit.

Do you recall that Cratchit spent a handsome sum for Christmas pudding and a goose? How many people overspend at this season even while they are ducking calls from creditors?

“The truth is, people from all socioeconomic levels are trapped in self-destructive behaviors that feel right to them,” the authors write.

Scrooge’s transformation provides an engaging illustration of how your life experiences can dictate your handling or mishandling of money.

They use their financial planning and counseling background to get you to figure out your “money script,” which they call self-limiting beliefs about money that drive our financial behaviors. For example, do any of the following sound like your personal money mantra?

¢ You can never have enough money.

¢ More money will make things better.

¢ Your net worth equals your self-worth.

¢ Money is the root of all evil.

¢ I deserve to spend money on myself, no matter what.

“Very early in life, people begin to internalize messages about money’s purpose – how it works, what it promises, its overall significance – and develop their relationships to it,” the authors note.

So what are the five transforming principles?

¢ Principle 1: Denial inhibits change. You have to recognize a problem to begin solving it.

¢ Principle 2: To heal, you must feel. If you’ve got a self-destructive financial behavior, it’s probably tied to some trauma or neglect in your past, Ted Klontz says.

¢ Principle 3: It pays to be present. By this, the authors mean you have to get rid of the distorted views of money from your past and live in the present reality of your financial situation.

¢ Principle 4: Awareness of consequences creates motivation. Scrooge changed when he realized what his future would be if he continued his miserly ways.

¢ Principle 5: Transformation requires action.

Want to change your money script? Get this book. You won’t be able to do better with your money if you don’t recognize the issues that block you from implementing a good financial plan.