Lynda Moore finds most people are far more worried about the cost of living, their mortgage and their weekly budget than about who wins on the night

There's a little phrase I hear a lot at this time of the electoral cycle. It usually comes with a shrug and a knowing look: "Oh, we'll wait until after the election."

I have thought it myself too, and then I catch myself, reality tells us that life isn’t really going to change the day after the election, new policy isn’t suddenly implemented overnight. The politicians themselves talk about the 100-day plan to make change.  So why am I putting off deciding now, just in case… So, I didn’t, the girl’s road trip at the end of January to Wanaka is all booked!

It pops up about all sorts of things. The new car. The kitchen renovation that's been on the cards for three years. Buying a house, selling a house, even booking a holiday. And with the election now just a couple of weeks away on 7 November, I'm hearing it more than ever.

I've started asking a cheeky follow-up question: "So what are you waiting to find out?" Almost every time there's a pause, then a laugh, and then some version of, "Honestly? I don't really know. It’s just what we do." 

I love that answer, because it's so human. And it says a lot about how we behave with money when the future feels a bit wobbly.

Do we actually stop spending?

Mostly, no. We might complain about it a bit more, and debate if there is a change of government will things get better, but basically life carries on. We still buy the groceries, fill up the car, pay the power bill and replace the school shoes that somehow got outgrown overnight. Those everyday costs are driven by, well, everyday life, not by who's going to be in the Beehive.

Where we do tend to hesitate is on the big stuff. The lumpy, once-in-a-while decisions that feel hard to undo. In my experience, that's where the "let's just wait" instinct really kicks in. And yet, in all my years of watching clients navigate these decisions, I can't say I've seen many people get a bargain by waiting for an election. Mostly, they just get a later date.

If anything, I find most people are far more worried about the cost of living, their mortgage and their weekly budget than about who wins on the night.

Why waiting feels so comfortable

So, if the numbers don't really move, why does pausing feel so right?

Part of it is that nobody wants to be the person who bought the week before everything changed. We'd rather miss out on something good than risk kicking ourselves later. Waiting protects us from that type of regret.

Part of it is control. An election is a date in the diary, a moment when things will finally be "known." Hanging a decision on it feels a bit like waiting for someone to blow the whistle and tell us it's safe to go.

And sometimes, "after the election" is simply a very respectable-sounding reason not to decide yet. When I gently dig a little deeper with clients, the election is often standing in for something else. A partner who isn't quite on board. A niggle about whether we can really afford it. Or just not feeling ready. All perfectly valid. It's just helpful to know which one it is. 

The funny thing about the little things

Here's the bit I find fascinating. While we're busy pressing pause on the big decisions, the small spending often carries on quite happily. Sometimes it even creeps up, uncertainty can have that effect. 

When the news feels heavy and every second ad is a politician, a lot of us reach for small comforts. The nice coffee. The takeaway because we're too tired to cook, which we then justify as we also got lunch the next day (or was that just me?) The online cart we fill up at 10pm "just to look." Uncertainty has a way of making us want a little treat, a little something that feels good right now.

There's nothing wrong with a treat. But it is a bit ironic that we'll agonise for months over the timing of one big purchase, while the little everyday choices, the ones that really add up over a year, slip through without a second thought.

A few gentle questions

If you're sitting on a decision now, here are a few things you might like to ask yourself over a cuppa.

Will the result change my numbers? For most of us, things like our income, our interest rate and what we've saved will matter far more than who wins.

Is my timing being set by my life, or by the news? A new baby, a new job or a lease ending are good reasons to move, or to wait. A headline usually isn't.

And what am I really waiting for? If the honest answer is confidence, clarity or a conversation you haven't had yet, the election won't hand you any of those. But you can give them to yourself.

On 8 November the sun will come up, the votes will be counted, then we wait while the politicians do their thing and figure out who is going to join with whom. Your goals will still be yours. The decision always was too.

*Lynda Moore is a Money Mentalist coach and New Zealand’s only certified New Money Story® mentor. Lynda helps you understand why you do the things you do with your money, when we all know we should spend less than we earn. You can contact her here.