I know this to be true: If you were talking to someone with triple your income and they were lamenting how they’re living paycheck to paycheck, you would scoff, roll your inner eyeballs and think, “If I was making that much, I wouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck.”
You are both people in this story; the eye-roller and the triple-income earner. You are currently making 3x what you thought you’d ever make at some point in your life and you still feel stretched and out of touch with your money. We call this phenomenon “lifestyle creep.” Generally speaking, it is the idea that if you make $5,000 more per year, you will upgrade your jeans, coffee, cell phone and hairstyle to spend that $5,000. Most of us don’t stop there, though. We also take on more debt because we have the sense we deserve it or we’ll be in a better position to repay it.
This is why “more than 70% of Americans feel financially stressed” according to a 2025 CNBC poll. This is a ridiculously large portion of our population. We can safely assume not all of these folks are living in poverty, so this means that wealthy people are feeling the stress, too. It turns out our financial stress is as American as apple pie or, well… financial stress.
It seems crazy, right? But we’re all so unbelievably human that we wind up here. Do you drink wine? Do you buy it from the $12 shelf, the $26 shelf, the $80 shelf, the $420 shelf? I bet your shelves have inched up over time. This is how people who earn $150,000, $350,000, $850,000 and beyond wind up feeling like they’re not quite making it, needing to find more cash. So when you’re talking to someone who earns a bazillion dollars and they’re stressed about getting their kid through college, you can have a bit of empathy because you too, my friend, are this person in someone else’s eyes.
This is why it is so damn important — so important — to understand what’s coming and what’s going out each and every month. You will unearth the creep. You will excavate the slimy goo you spend money on that doesn’t actually fill you with joy. You will find the fossils of subscriptions, forgotten late-night purchases and expensive, but not tasty, wine.
I’ll say it again (I don’t know who to attribute this quote to, sadly): “Tell your money where to go now instead of wondering where it went later.”
This does not mean only shopping at the thrift store! This does not mean driving a lemon if you don’t want to! This means elevating the essentials and the things that bring you the most joy and trimming the rest so that your money can go to a good home.
When I work with people, one of the first things we do is find them more money. This isn’t via a new job or getting a roommate; it’s via an inventory. Simply combing the last six to 18 months of expenses is wildly illuminating and it reveals money that’s seeping from your accounts.
Imagine if you wanted to lose weight and your personal trainer found 15 pounds you could shed right away within your first meeting. It’s inspiring! Most commonly, people come to Money Juice saying “I need more money” and they find they have more than they think. They have money dysphoria. They’re just not paying the right kind of attention to it.Just as you need to be kinder to your body (I look good today! My pants are the perfect size for me!), you also need to be kind to your money.
Shepherd it to a wonderful home. Stop sending it places you’ve never heard of and will forget instantly. Spend on things you adore that lift you up. Appreciate the moolah you’ve got. Send it a thank-you letter in your mind. Let it grow and thrive. Let it blossom for you. Let it take care of you so you are work-optional sooner rather than later.
Get clear on your money body and stop believing you’re starving — you’re just seeing it all through a funhouse mirror, the mirror of money dysmorphia.
Megan Janssen is the founder of Money Juice (www.money-juice.com) and a financial advisor with Forum Financial Management, LP. The ideas and language written here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Forum.