For Freud, money is a symbol of excrement and dreams of hoarding money express an anal fixation, perhaps caused by the parents mishandling the dreamer’s toilet training in childhood. Such dreams may therefore suggest an obsessively orderly and obstinate personality. Dreams of a pile of coins are especially potent symbols of anal preoccupations.
Most modern dream analysts believe that dream money or cash is a symbol of security, although it may also indicate things of intrinsic value to you or the way in which you value yourself. Whenever you dream of money and those things with which it is associated—such as shopping, writing checks, banks, investments, prizes or wills—you should consider whether they are commenting on the importance of things with a non-materialistic value in your waking life. Bear in mind, too, that money can represent emotional transactions in waking life.
Giving money may signify a generosity of spirit or kindness, or it may reflect emotional ties. Receiving money can suggest the acceptance of emotional support, whilst borrowing money may be a warning to pay attention to your current spending levels. Dreaming of a lack of money can suggest a lack of qualifications or the need to achieve a desired goal and hoarding money can indicate selfishness. Finding money suggests that you are realizing something valuable or gaining power; such a dream is often accompanied by a feeling of release from stress. Holding on to money in your dream signifies feeling insecure, or being ‘tight’ emotionally or sexually; it is also a symbol of not using your power to get what you want. Losing money is a symbol of losing power or opportunity, or can simply represent the pain of loss. Not having enough money indicates a sense of being inadequate or may even be reminding a man about his failing potency. Stolen money represents feelings of guilt about gaining power, a sense that you do not deserve what you get; it may also reveal a sense of feeling cheated or feeling that others are taking us for granted. Perhaps you have given yourself cheaply in sex or in a relationship. According to ancient dream-lore, it was considered fortunate to dream of receiving or finding money, with some traditions going further and saying that a dream of finding money means a birth. Money dreams, of course, may simply reflect anxieties about your finances. [1]