It's Halloween, our annual day to celebrate the ghoulish and macabre. But when it comes to money, the financial bogeymen lurk all year. I'm talking about the terror you feel when you think about outliving your money. The shiver that runs down your spine when you open your credit card bill. And that ever-present financial devil on your shoulder. What better time to try and exorcise our financial demons than All Hallows Eve?

The first step is to assess why you behave the way you do around money. "Sometimes our money personality is like a ghost that's haunting us," said Susan Zimmerman, a licensed marriage and family therapist and co-founder of Mindful Asset Planning in Apple Valley. She starts by having clients explore their money history. What childhood memories and cultural messages lend clues to current bad habits? How did mom and dad handle money? Individuals who grew up in an environment where a parent saved obsessively or spent too freely may rebel against those traits. Others may emulate them.

In addition to personal history, Zimmerman has clients examine their "money rascals," her term for the "characteristics in your own money personality that make mischief in your financial life." Are you more like Flasher, who loves showing off his pricey purchases, or Clasher, who can't choose between two financial goals? (See Kara's blog for all eight money rascals.)

Next, figure out what's getting in the way of changing your evil behaviors. Denise Kautzer's clients have all kinds of excuses for not fixing their financial issues -- shame, procrastination, overwhelming confusion and a belief that "everything will work out" are common, said the St. Paul licensed professional counselor and certified public accountant.

Now that you have a better idea of what's influencing your financial behaviors, it's time to understand your financial values. It's common to find a discrepancy between beliefs and behavior. Kautzer has clients identify their top four money values -- financial responsibility or self-sufficiency, for example -- and uses them to reexamine a recent financial action. She might, for example, ask a client who is overspending to track their purchases for a week and analyze them with their values in mind.

So you've explored your money history, analyzed your money personality and determined your core financial values. Time to exhume your finances. What do you own and what do you owe? When you take taxes and benefits out of your $50,000 take-home pay, how much do you really have left? It's impossible to make lasting financial changes without squinting at the numbers. If you're someone who can't connect financial goals with rows on a spreadsheet, use Zimmerman's tip and connect your monetary goal with a visual cue. Parents who are finding it difficult to save for college could paste a picture of their child's face on an image of a graduation cap and gown and keep it close by, for example.

As any good ghost buster knows, blasting away every last phantasm takes effort and time. Kathleen Vohs, an associate professor of marketing at the Carlson School of Management who specializes in money psychology, said financial change is like dieting: "The effects have to accumulate before you see real changes, and that slow-going process can be frustrating and lead people to disengage from trying to reach that goal."

Her suggestion? Start with small, measurable changes to prove to yourself that you can be successful. Try to save $20 a month for retirement if $200 seems impossible, for example. Or switch from eating lunch out daily to twice a week. Replacing your perception of yourself as a spender to a saver will help you stay motivated.

"Make it a cool, aspirational identity and really 'own it,'" Vohs said.

Kara McGuire • 612-673-7293 or kmcguire@startribune.com.