It’s a bit hard to avoid money stress at the moment, thanks to the cost-of-living crisis that seems endless… so in this episode you’ll discover how to manage financial anxiety in a healthy way. So, Let’s Talk About Mental Health!

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Episode Overview:

Is money stress making every week feel like a fight you didn’t sign up for? Cost of living tips not really cutting it? Well, we need to talk about money and mental health… not to mention the cost of living and mental health!

In this episode of the Let’s Talk About Mental Health podcast with Jeremy Godwin, I look at how the cost of living is out of control and what that does to your mind and body. I break down why financial anxiety triggers threat mode, how money worries create decision fatigue, and why shame keeps you stuck (and makes it tough to work on your financial wellness). I’m sharing practical ways to cope with financial stress that focus on better mental health first: a simple 10-minute weekly reset I use, quick calming practices for your nervous system, and realistic boundaries you can set to protect your peace while you deal with the numbers. If you’re overwhelmed by rising costs and tired of feeling on edge, this is for you. 

👉 Ready to reclaim some headspace and feel more in control (in spite of how expensive everything is these days)? Then let’s talk!

💡 TL;DR: Feeling crushed by money stress and rising costs? This episode explains what it’s doing to your mind and body, and how to start taking back control of your peace. 🙂

New here? Hi! Let’s Talk About Mental Health is your weekly dose of practical mental health advice for real life. I’m Jeremy Godwin (hi! 👋) and I keep things simple, honest, and doable so you can feel more in control of your life and your mental wellbeing. If you’re not already a free subscriber, sign up below to have episodes and transcripts land in your inbox every Sunday:

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Episode Transcript:

Money stress is hijacking your peace of mind

Let’s face it: financial stress is exhausting!

When every bill feels like a threat, and constant price rises make your chest tighten, it’s hard to think about anything else… let alone self-care.

If you’re worried about money, and feeling sick about the rising cost of living, this episode is for you. I’m going to walk you through what financial anxiety does to your brain, why tips like “just budget better!” don’t actually fix anything, and practical ways to feel more in control of money stress… including a simple weekly reset that I use.

We have a lot to discuss, so let’s talk about… money stress.

Hello and welcome back to Let’s Talk About Mental Health! I’m Jeremy Godwin and this show is all about practical mental health advice for real life. This week we’re talking about how expensive everything is these days, and how much stress that causes. So let’s just get this out on the table, shall we: the constant drain of everything costing more and more from one week to the next makes life feel heavier.

When you’re already juggling work stuff, family stuff, your own brain being a bit of a handful, adding on stuff like “how am I going to afford this?!” on top of all of that can quite often end up being the thing that pushes you from, “eh, I’m just about coping…” into “I honestly don’t know how much more of this I can take!” So today we’re going to talk about it and what to do so that your head doesn’t explode!

Now, just to be clear, I am not a finance guru. There’s plenty of content out there about how to budget if you need it, but today I’m talking to you from a “your nervous system is completely fried and you’re barely holding it together” type of perspective. Because, yes, money is something practical that we all need to deal with… but it’s also deeply emotional. It’s about safety, options, identity, and whether or not you feel like you have any control over your life.

Many of us are dealing with constant rising costs, wages that don’t keep up, rent or mortgage stress, and that constant background noise of “What if something big breaks or goes wrong?” And for a lot of people, the usual advice of, “Well, you should just budget better!” either isn’t realistic, or it just doesn’t actually help you when you’re lying awake at 3:00 AM thinking about worst case scenarios… or having a mild freak-out in the supermarket when you see the price of coffee these days.

And just to say it clearly: therapy and professional help are really important and if you have access to that, please use it. But I also know a lot of you either can’t get support right now, or are using this show as something to lean on between sessions, so I want you to think of this episode as a set of practical tools that you can start using straight away to support yourself while you keep doing whatever you need to do on the financial side of things.

Alright, so let’s talk about…

What is financial stress?

So, by ‘financial stress’ I’m not just talking about being ‘a little bit worried about money’, I’m talking about that ongoing sense of dread or tension around your finances; the one that sits in the back of your mind, either all or most of the time. It’s the constant mental pressure that makes it hard to relax, hard to think straight, and hard to feel safe… even if, on paper, things might look OK. Financial anxiety is what happens when money moves from being a practical problem that you need to solve into feeling like a threat your brain is constantly scanning for… like when the price of everything keeps going up and up and up.

Financial stress and anxiety usually shows up as a mix of thoughts, emotions, and physical reactions. Mentally it might be endless “what if?” thoughts, or catastrophising about the future, or replaying numbers in your head, or feeling like you’re always one step away from financial disaster. Emotionally it might look like shame, guilt, anger, or embarrassment, especially if you feel like you ‘should’ have it all together by now. Physically it can be things like a tight chest, headaches, poor sleep, churning stomach, or feeling wired and exhausted at the same time.

It can push you into two extreme patterns: obsessing, or avoiding. Obsessing might look like checking your banking app multiple times a day, constantly refreshing your email for bills, or endlessly researching money tips without actually changing anything. Avoiding, on the other hand, might look like things like not opening letters, ignoring emails, not logging into your banking accounts, or just pretending everything is fine until something urgent forces you to deal with it.

You might bounce around between the two: maybe you have a burst of panic action, and then a long stretch of avoidance because it all just becomes way too much to deal with. Now… for a lot of people who feel like they’re barely holding it together, financial anxiety also shows up as decision fatigue. Simple choices all of a sudden can just feel loaded. You know, choices like what to buy at the supermarket, whether or not to renew a particular subscription, or whether or not you’re going to say yes to a coffee out.

All of that stuff can feel really overwhelming. You might notice a running commentary in your head of things like: Can I really justify this? What if something breaks? What if I need that money later? It’s exhausting, and over time it chips away at your mood, your energy, and your sense of control.

So when I say ‘financial anxiety’ in this episode, I’m talking about that ongoing state where money worries are living rent-free in your mind and body… while you’re trying to figure out how to pay the actual rent yourself. It’s not just about how much you earn, or how much you spend. It’s about how unsafe you feel, how much headspace it all takes up, and how impossible it can feel to make calm and thoughtful choices when you’re constantly on edge.

And that’s where the mental health piece really comes in… because if your brain and your nervous system are stuck in threat mode around money, it becomes much harder to do the things that actually help you to feel better and to move forward.

So now let’s talk about…

Why your financial wellbeing matters

Money stress doesn’t just live in your bank account. It lives in your body. Your brain is hardwired to treat anything that threatens your safety as a potential emergency… and in the world we live in now, where we’re constantly talking about money, money has become one of the biggest symbols of safety. So when you’re not sure how you’re going to cover the bills, or you feel like you’re always on the edge, or you’re just bracing yourself for the next price rise, your brain doesn’t see that as a budgeting issue… it sees it as a full blown, “We might not be safe here!” kind of thing, and it reacts accordingly.

So when your brain senses a threat, it flips your nervous system into survival mode. You might have heard terms before like ‘fight, flight, freeze or fawn’, and that’s your body’s built-in emergency system kicking in. So with financial anxiety, it can look a whole bunch of different ways. It could be racing thoughts, which is ‘fight’; constant hustle or a desire to overwork, that’s the ‘flight’ response; it could be going numb and avoiding everything, which is a ‘freeze’ response; or people pleasing around money and work because you’re terrified of rocking the boat, which is a ‘fawn’ response.

So, none of this is you being weak. This is your brain doing exactly what it’s designed to do when it thinks that your safety is on the line. The problem is that your nervous system cannot tell the difference between “I literally have no money for food this week” versus “I’m scared that I’ll never get ahead and I feel out of control.” To your brain, both of those feel like a threat.

And then on top of all of that, there are the internal stories that you tell yourself about money, right? So if you grew up hearing things like, “Oh no, we can’t afford that,” or “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” or things like, “Don’t be terrible with money!”, those narratives can become part of your identity as an adult. You might feel ashamed, or guilty, or like you’re somehow failing if you’re struggling… but you’re not, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.

Shame is a really powerful silencer because it stops you from asking for help, talking openly, or even being honest with yourself about what’s actually going on. And unfortunately, a lot of people would rather quietly drown in money stress than admit that they’re not coping.

Then there are all of the external pressures. We’re living through a cost of living crisis in many parts of the world. Housing is expensive. Groceries are expensive. Utilities are expensive. Hell, even breathing feels expensive some days! Everything seems to keep on going up, except for wages.

At the same time, you’re being constantly bombarded with messages telling you to buy more, upgrade more, be more. Now there’s a really cruel mismatch going on here. You’re being sold a lifestyle you cannot realistically afford in an economy that’s getting harder and harder to survive in. And then, you’re told that if you’re stressed it’s probably because you’re bad with money, or you’re not trying hard enough, or maybe you’re having too much avocado on toast.

No wonder your nervous system is screaming! It’s like living in a pressure cooker and being told to “just relax!” and “manifest abundance!” while the gas is being turned up underneath you.

There’s also the toll on your everyday mental health that we need to consider, right? So, constant money worry can make anxiety and depression significantly worse. It can reduce your ability to focus and it can drain your motivation. It strains your relationships because you’re a lot more irritable, more withdrawn, or more prone to arguments about spending.

So here’s one thing I really want you to remember: money stress is not just about numbers. It’s about how safe you feel.

And here’s another: if your brain thinks your survival is at stake, calm and rational decision making will always come second. That’s not you being lazy or bad with money. That’s your nervous system doing its thing, and this is why financial anxiety can feel so overwhelming when you’re barely holding it together. You’re not just dealing with bills or bank balances, you’re dealing with a brain in threat mode and a world that keeps on cranking up the pressure. That combination can leave you feeling trapped, out of control, and constantly bracing for impact.

The good news, though, is that once you understand what’s going on underneath the surface, you can start changing how you relate to money stress… even if your external situation doesn’t just magically improve overnight. And we’re going to talk about how to do that right after this quick ad break, because I’ve got bills to pay too!

And welcome back! So now let’s get into the how to part of this episode, and let’s talk about…

How to deal with money stress

Alright! Let’s talk about how to go from feeling constantly ‘on-edge’ about money to creating a bit more calm and control.

So, we’re going to go through three types of tips: a few immediate actions that you can use when your brain is screaming, then some quick actions to take over the next week or two, and then a couple of bigger-picture changes to work on over time. So let’s start with the immediate stuff for when money stress is, like, right up in your face. First…

Get the storm out of your head.

Take five minutes to dump every single money worry that you have onto paper or into your notes app. Put down the bills, the “can I afford this?” thoughts, the fears about the future. Don’t second guess it. Don’t organise it. Just get it out. Seeing all of that stuff in one place turns it all into a list that your brain can start to deal with, instead of just swimming around in your head… and that alone can take the edge off. Next…

Give yourself one day without ‘money doom-scrolling’.

For the next 24 hours, no cost of living horror stories, no “How I bought a house at 25” flex content, no “You’re failing if you’re not investing like this” videos… none of it. Your nervous system is already under pressure; giving it a break from constant danger signals, which is what all that stuff is, will help it to calm down long enough for you to think clearly. Next…

Do one small thing you’ve been avoiding.

Pick one tiny money task you’ve been putting off: open a bill, check one account, reply to one email… and whatever it is, just do that. Avoidance keeps the fear feeling huge because your brain only knows that there’s something bad lurking. So facing one thing shrinks it slightly and it gives you a small hint of, “Yes, I can handle this”… which is exactly what your nervous system needs.

So now let’s talk through quick actions you can take over the next week or two to create a bit more rhythm and structure for yourself. And first, it’s the one that I mentioned in the opener…

Do a 10 minute weekly ‘money and mind’ reset.

Every week, at the same time if you can, just sit down for 10 or so minutes. Start out with a few slow breaths, just to tell your body “we’re safe enough to look at this,” and then quickly glance over your main accounts or bills, choose one money task to do, and choose one kind thing for future you. I do this myself every Saturday, and it makes a real difference. This is not about trying to fix everything; it’s about teaching your brain that money gets handled in a calm and contained way… not just in moments of panic. Next…

Decide on your non-negotiables.

These are the things that you’ll protect as much as humanly possible, even when money is tight. So that might be basics like food, housing, medication, electricity, and one genuinely important small joy that supports your mental health, like, I don’t know, a weekly coffee or a cheap streaming service that you use to switch off. In a cost-of-living crisis, your brain starts acting like everything is an emergency. But when you name your non-negotiables, you’re saying, “These are the foundations that help me function.” It gives you a map to work from, so when you have to make hard choices you’re not always sacrificing your wellbeing first. Next…

Set specific ‘money check’ times.

Instead of constantly checking things, decide when you’ll look at your accounts or your bills, maybe it’s once a day or even just a few times a week… and outside those times don’t look. Constant checking might feel like you’re staying on top of things… but what it actually does is keep your nervous system in a permanent state of, “Something could possibly be wrong!” Turning it into a scheduled task tells your brain, “We have a plan, and we’ll look at it at this time.” That predictability creates a bit more space, because you’re not half-thinking about finances all day long.

OK, now we’re going to zoom out to longer term changes, and these are things that can support you over the next few months and beyond. First…

Build emotional safety nets.

So yes, emergency funds and savings matter if and when you can build them… but emotional safety is just as important. Now, that might look like having one or two people you can be brutally honest with about money stress, or a community space where people go and talk openly about their real life struggles. Or maybe it’s working with a professional, if you can access therapy or counselling. When you feel completely alone with money stress, your nervous system is more likely to tip into crisis. But when you know that you can say, “I’m really struggling right now,” and someone will hear you without judgement, your body relaxes a tiny bit… and that ‘tiny bit’ often makes the difference between avoidance and taking action. If your situation is really dire or difficult, I would also recommend consulting with a financial counsellor; many offer their services free or at a very reduced rate, so it is worth looking into. Next…

Think first.

There’s something I’ve learned to repeat a lot in my own life: “every choice has a price.” Because it does. Every ‘yes’ costs you something, whether it’s money, or time, or energy, or stress. Now, that doesn’t mean that you never say yes to anything fun or unnecessary. It just means that you practice pausing before you make choices, and just asking yourself: “What is the price of this in terms of money, in energy, in time, and in stress?” You know, maybe that purchase is worth it because it genuinely brings you joy, or it makes life easier. But also… maybe it’s not worth it. So the point here is not to shame yourself; it’s to be conscious and intentional so that you can feel less like life is just happening to you. When you remember that every choice has a price of some sort, you’re more likely to choose in ways that will protect your peace instead of just reacting to pressure or comparison. Next…

Set boundaries and stick to them.

We live in a world where prices are going up and social feeds are full of people renovating their kitchens, going on fabulous overseas holidays, and buying things for themselves ‘just because’. And if you marinate in all of that all day long, then of course you’re going to feel like you’re behind. So, over time, start curating your environment. Unfollow accounts that make you feel like a failure. Mute constant content full of hauls or unattainable luxury. Unsubscribe from sales emails that keep poking at your insecurities to try and get you to buy. Because you cannot out-willpower an environment that is constantly telling you to spend more and be more. Protecting your attention like this is nervous system self-care. It lowers the background pressure so money stress isn’t hijacking your mind quite as much. Think of it as turning down the volume on the world’s expectations and opinions so you can actually hear your own needs.

So… you might be listening to all of this and thinking, “Uh, that’s a lot, Jeremy, and I’m exhausted already!” And that’s exactly why I want to repeat this: you are not meant to do everything I’ve just talked about. In fact, please don’t! That’s a shortcut to burnout.

Instead, just pick one immediate thing and one quick or longer-term action that feel doable for you over the next week. Whatever it is, keep it small and specific. Nothing changes if nothing changes… but you don’t have to change everything all at once! Let me know in the comments what you’re going to focus on first, and let’s talk about it.

Final tips and conclusion

So here’s the main thing I want you to take away from all of this: you can’t fix the cost of living, but you can change how your brain and body respond to money stress by using small, calm routines and making more conscious choices about where your time, energy, and money go.

So what’s one simple change you can make today to help you feel a little less on edge when it comes to money? Not five changes, not a total life overhaul… just one small shift that gives you a little more breathing room.

Because when you boil it all down, the cost of living might be out of your hands… but how you protect your peace is not.

Each week, I like to finish up by sharing a quote about the topic, and I encourage you to take a few moments to really reflect on it and consider what it means to you. This week’s quote is by an unknown author, and it is…

Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace.

Unknown

Let me repeat that:

Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace.

Alright, that’s it for this week!

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Thank you very much for joining me today. Look after yourself and make a conscious effort to share positivity and kindness out into the world… because you get back what you put out. Take care and talk to you next time!

Join me next week to talk about navigating the holidays, and check out my episode on desperation and overwhelm next; it’s linked in the description. And follow or subscribe to never miss an episode!

Let’s Talk About Mental Health is an independent program. Discover more at ltamh.com.

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Let’s Talk About Mental Health.
Making Mental Health Simple.

Let’s Talk About Mental Health. © 2025 Jeremy Godwin.

The information provided in this episode is for general awareness on the topic and does not constitute advice. You should consult a doctor and/or mental health professional if you’re struggling with your mental health and wellbeing. You’ll find additional information on the Resources page of this website.