Journaling Prompts for Financial Stress and Money Anxiety
Money anxiety has a particular quality—it's always there, humming underneath everything. It changes the way you sleep, the way you enjoy things, the way you think about the future. And the shame that often comes with it can make it almost impossible to look at directly. But financial stress is not a character flaw. It's often the result of systems, circumstances, and decisions made under pressure, not evidence that you are fundamentally bad at life. Writing about it doesn't fix your bank account—but it can untangle money anxiety from money reality, and those two things are often very different.
Journaling Prompts
Write down the specific financial fear that wakes you up at three in the morning. Now write out the actual, concrete facts of your situation—not the catastrophic projection, but the real current numbers. Where is the gap between the fear and the fact?
What did money mean in the household you grew up in? Was it scarce, secretive, a source of conflict? How might those early associations be shaping the way you relate to money now?
What is one financial decision you've made that you're ashamed of? Write about the circumstances around it—what were you feeling, what did you need, what were your options? Can you look at that decision with any compassion?
If your financial situation were exactly the same but you felt completely calm about it, what would be different in your daily life? What is anxiety costing you on top of the actual financial difficulty?
What is one small, concrete action—not a complete overhaul, just one thing—you could take this week that would make you feel slightly more in control of your financial situation?