Money Shame Spiral: How to Stop the Cycle

Understand how shame about money keeps you stuck and learn compassionate ways to break free from financial shame patterns.

I made a stupid financial decision last week. Nothing catastrophic—just bought something I couldn’t really afford because I was feeling down and wanted to treat myself. The thing is, it wasn’t the purchase that nearly derailed me. It was what happened after.

The voice in my head started its familiar refrain: “You’re terrible with money. You’ll never get this right. Everyone else has it figured out except you.” Sound familiar?

That’s money shame talking. More than half of Americans (52%) say they often feel guilty about how they spend their money, and among those who admit to overspending, 44% feel guilty about it. (Source: NerdWallet, “Survey: Money envy is common, and 54% who feel it say it harms their mental health,” https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/survey-money-envy-is-common-and-54-who-feel-it-say-it-harms-their-mental-health)

Yet we seldom discuss these feelings openly. We’d rather pretend we have our financial lives together than admit we sometimes feel completely lost.

Photo by Toan Nguyen on Unsplash