Money Isn’t Scary - Money Mindset, Money Anxiety, Intentional Spending, Saving Money, Money Management

Unexpected expenses have a way of making us question ourselves. In today's episode of the pod, I’m talking about why an unexpected car repair, vet bill, or broken appliance can feel like more than just an expense—and why we’re so quick to turn it into evidence that we’ve done something wrong.

We can be responsible, plan ahead, save, and still get blindsided. That doesn’t mean we failed. It means life is unpredictable.

I’m also talking about the difference between responsibility and control, the emotional stories we attach to money surprises, and why financial wellness isn’t just about knowing what to do with the numbers—it’s also about learning how to be kind to ourselves when things don’t go according to plan.

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

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Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

 

How much of the way you think about money actually belongs to you?

In today's episode, I talk about the money beliefs we inherit from our families - often without even realizing it.

From “We don’t need that” to “Must be nice,” we absorb messages about spending, saving, work, success, and what it means to be “good” with money. But just because we learned a belief growing up doesn’t mean we have to carry it forever.

Today I'm working through how to notice these inherited money rules, question where they came from, and decide which ones still serve us—and which ones we're ready to do differently.

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

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Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

This week on the pod, I'm joined by Monica Packer, founder of the Progress Over Perfection movement, host of the About Progress podcast, and author of Sticky Habits. Together, we explore why so many of us get stuck waiting for the "perfect" time, how to let go of all-or-nothing thinking, and what it really takes to create lasting change.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• What it truly means to choose progress over perfection
• Why we're wired to seek certainty—and how it keeps us stuck
• The role of consistency and flexibility in building habits that last
• Why self-compassion is essential for meaningful growth
• How lasting change starts with our identity, not just our behaviors

Connect with Monica:

• Sticky Habits: stickyhabitsbook.com
• About Progress podcast (wherever you listen to podcasts)
• Instagram: @aboutprogress

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

Last week on the pod, we talked about how life has become one giant optimization project. This week, we're taking that conversation one step further by looking at how that mindset shows up in our summers.

Somewhere along the way, summer stopped feeling like a season and started feeling like something we have to maximize. Between bucket lists, vacations, camps, beach days, and the pressure to "make memories," it's easy to feel like we're trying to squeeze every last drop out of these few short months.

In this episode, I explore why that pressure feels so intense, how scarcity influences both our spending and our decision-making, and why we often find ourselves buying reassurance instead of experiences.

If you've ever felt guilty for having a quiet weekend, staying home on a beautiful day, or wondering if you're doing "enough" with your kids, this episode is your reminder that there isn't a right way to do summer.

Maybe the best memories aren't the ones we plan. Maybe they're the ones that happen when we stop trying so hard to optimize every moment.

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

This week, I'm talking about why every financial decision (and frankly decisions in all areas of life) now suddenly feels so complicated.

What started as a simple task of booking a hotel for a family vacation turned into a perfect example of something much bigger. I found myself comparing prices, debating credit card points, reading reviews, wondering if I should wait for a better deal, and questioning whether I was making the "right" decision. Somewhere along the way, planning a vacation stopped feeling exciting and started feeling like homework.

In this episode, I explore the pressure to optimize every dollar and how our culture has convinced us that every financial decision has a hidden "best" answer. We talk about the emotional cost of constantly trying to maximize rewards, save a little more, and make the perfect choice—and why sometimes protecting our time, energy, and peace of mind is just as valuable.

If you've ever found yourself spending way too much time trying to save a few dollars—or feeling like every purchase is a test you have to pass—I hope this conversation reminds you that your time, attention, and peace of mind have value too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

This week on the show, I'm joined by financial wellness coach, author, entrepreneur, and Stanford-trained sociologist Tari K. Vickery for a conversation about something I believe is at the heart of financial well-being: the emotional side of money.

So often we focus on budgets, investing, and financial strategies, but we rarely stop to ask why we make the financial decisions we do. Tari and I explore how our family experiences, childhood messages, and inherited beliefs shape our relationship with money—and why understanding those stories is the first step toward creating a healthier one.

Connect with Tari:

• 🌐 Website: https://tarikvickeryauthor.com
• 📖 Book: The Emotional Side of Money: A Roadmap to Financial Wellness (https://tarikvickeryauthor.com/book)
• 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tari-vickery
• 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarikvickeryauthor
• 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarikvickeryauthor

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

This week, I'm talking about something that happened to me recently that I think many of us can relate to: consuming financial advice and somehow ending up feeling worse instead of better.

After a late-night social media scroll left me feeling behind in about twelve different areas of my life, I started thinking about how much financial advice we're exposed to every day—and how overwhelming it can be. Between social media, podcasts, books, and experts all telling us the "right" way to manage money, it's easy to end up carrying around a long list of financial shoulds that feel more like pressure than support.

In this episode, I discuss:
• Why too much financial content can create overwhelm instead of clarity
• How social media fuels comparison and feelings of being "behind"
• The danger of applying someone else's financial advice to a completely different situation
• Why context, life stage, and capacity matter when making financial decisions
• A simple question to ask yourself before taking on any new financial advice

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by money, this episode is a reminder that you don't need to do everything at once—and that just because something is good advice doesn't mean it's the right advice for you right now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

 

 

This week, I'm chatting with Jenn Klein—author, podcast host, and philanthropic advisor—for a thoughtful conversation about generosity, giving, and what it really means to be a philanthropist.

Many of us think philanthropy is something reserved for the ultra-wealthy, but Jenn challenges that belief. She shares how generosity is not defined by the size of a donation, but by the ways we choose to align our time, energy, resources, and values with the causes and communities we care about most.

We explore how our personal values shape our giving, the mindset shifts that can make generosity feel more accessible, and why philanthropy can be an everyday practice rather than a financial milestone.

Whether you're looking for ways to make a greater impact in your community or simply want to rethink your relationship with giving, this conversation will leave you feeling inspired and empowered.

Connect with Jenn:
https://youareaphilanthropist.com/

https://www.instagram.com/_jennklein

 

Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/Giving-Selfish-Change-World-Yourself/dp/B0CLK2STJT

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

Have you ever felt like somewhere along the way, you stopped feeling like yourself?

Whether it's motherhood, burnout, a career change, or simply years of putting everyone else's needs before your own, major life transitions can leave us feeling disconnected from who we are. And sometimes, without even realizing it, we turn to spending as a way to reconnect with ourselves.

In this episode, I'm exploring the emotional connection between spending and identity, why shopping can feel so hopeful during difficult seasons, and how marketing often capitalizes on our desire for transformation. I also talk about the grief that can come with outgrowing old versions of ourselves and why trying to "buy our way back" rarely creates lasting fulfillment.

Most importantly, we'll discuss how to navigate identity shifts with more awareness and self-compassion—and why the answer may not be finding the person you used to be, but getting curious about who you're becoming.

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want! 

 

 

 

This week on the pod I’m talking about the financial and emotional cost of constantly saying yes during the chaos of event season.

May can feel like a nonstop cycle of graduations, weddings, school events, birthday parties, fundraisers, travel, gifts, and social obligations — and while these moments are often joyful, they can also leave us feeling financially stretched, emotionally overwhelmed, and quietly resentful.

In this episode, I talk about:

• The hidden emotional and financial pressure of “event season”
• The difference between joyful spending and resentment spending
• Why so many women struggle with boundaries around money, time, and obligations
• How people-pleasing and guilt influence our spending decisions
• The connection between overcommitting and nervous system burnout
• Why saying no doesn’t make you selfish or uncaring
• Learning to honor your financial, emotional, and energetic capacity without guilt

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by invitations, pressured to participate in everything, or resentful after spending money you didn’t really want to spend — you are not alone! 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate, or review Money Isn’t Scary — it helps more women find these much-needed conversations.

You can also find me here:
🎙️ Website: moneyisntscary.com
📸 Instagram: @moneyisntscary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you interested in working 1:1 with me? I'm now officially a Certified Money Coach (CMC)® where I work with you to create greater balance, a higher consciousness and help you transform your relationship with money. This goal of this work is to guide you to a deeper understanding of the unconscious beliefs and patterns we carry that create stress and fear and hold us back from living the life that you want.

You can book a quick 15-minute call here so I can learn more about you and your goals for the program. 

I'm so excited to be able to connect with you on a deeper level and help you discover what's blocking you from living the life you really want!