Money Healing Club Podcast

EPISODE SUMMARY Why do some things feel so easy to talk yourself into? Maybe you don't even like shopping, and yet there are a couple of categories where a different gear kicks in. This episode started with a listener voicemail about exactly that. So on this week's episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel digs into why certain things feel so much harder to resist, and what that spending is really trying to say. Rachel gets into the values and memories living underneath the things you love, then brings back her friend Leah Kern, a registered dietitian and intuitive eating coach, to talk scarcity, rebellion, and the quiet grief she calls the sadness of saying enough. No five-step plan here, just a kinder way to meet yourself. 💬 "Getting better with money is actually a process of understanding yourself, not stopping yourself." (Rachel Duncan) What you'll take away: You don't impulse spend on everything. Naming your specific kryptonite categories, and noticing where you stay grounded, is the real starting point. The pull toward a certain purchase is often carrying a memory, an age, or a piece of unfinished business that no amount of spending can actually resolve. Leah's sadness of saying enough: when something pleasurable ends, a little grief can surface, and reaching for more is a normal way to soften it. Abundance can be steadying. Having enough on hand can signal safety to your nervous system, while restriction often backfires. It's both/and. You're allowed to want things and plan for them, and you can still practice a kind pause that uses your whole brain. Some of this isn't only emotional. Experiences and food have gotten more expensive since the pandemic, and scarcity tactics like "limited time" and "only one left" are built to rush your decision.   ⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN 02:00 | It's Not Every Category — Reframing the question from "why do I overspend?" to "why do certain things feel so much harder to resist?" 03:00 | Experiences Over Stuff — Getting curious about the values underneath the things you love, like novelty, connection, and making memories. 08:00 | Leah Kern on Food, Scarcity, and the Sadness of Saying Enough — Why a pleasurable experience ending can feel a little like grief, and why that response is not dramatic. 16:00 | Why Abundance Can Feel Safe — How having enough on hand can settle the nervous system instead of fueling the urge to stock up.   🌟 About Leah Kern Leah is a registered dietitian and intuitive eating coach who helps people build a peaceful, trusting relationship with food and their bodies. She hosts the podcast Shoulders Down and has teamed up with Rachel before on the surprising overlap between budget culture and diet culture.   💌 Connect with Leah Kern 🎙️ Podcast: Shoulders Down 🌐 Website: leahkernrd.com   📚 Resources Mentioned 10 Steps to Food Freedom, Leah's audio course (20% off for listeners with the code MONEYHEALERS20)   💬 Join the Conversation Got a kryptonite category of your own, or a sadness of saying enough moment you've never said out loud to anyone? I would love to hear it. Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voicemail: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast   💝 Support the Podcast Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast   🎨 Free Live Workshop: June 24th Spreadsheet made, impulse spending sworn off, lasted about three days? Same. Join Rachel for The Safest Money Talk You've Ever Had, a free live workshop on why money feels so hard and what your spending is really telling you. Plus a little art-making. Grab your free spot: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/opt-in-1   💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.com Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎙️ We're a proud member of

EPISODE SUMMARY You've done the foundational work. You know what your life costs. You're chipping away at debt, you've got a little cushion building. So what comes next? For a lot of us, investing is the part that feels locked behind a door someone else has the key to. Too much jargon. Too much math. Too many men in quarter-zips talking about the market. In this week's episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel sits down with Amanda Holden, author of the instant bestseller How to Be a Rich Old Lady. Amanda has a real gift for making investing feel approachable instead of intimidating, like a friend walking you through it at the kitchen table. They get into why investing is the bridge from surviving to thriving, the real story behind your 401k, and how to start even if you're self-employed and not sure you're "the investing type." 💬 "It is completely made up. None of this is natural." (Amanda Holden, on the language of investing)   Key Takeaways: Foundation first: emergency fund, then high-interest debt, then investing. You can live in that foundation phase for a while, and that's okay If your job offers a retirement match, that's not free money. It's part of your paycheck, so go get it Pull two ideas apart in your brain: the account is the container, the investments are what goes inside it. Opening a Roth IRA isn't the same as actually investing the money in it Time is your best asset. Investing is slow, tree-growing stuff, not week-to-week panic-checking The jargon is intimidating by design. It got kept by the old boys, and it's still something you can learn An index fund holds a little of everything, so one company tanking doesn't tank your whole retirement Self-employed? A Roth IRA is a great place to start, then a SEP IRA or Solo 401k as you grow You can't shop your way out of capitalism by skipping your Roth IRA. Opting out usually just hands the problem to another woman in your family   About Amanda Holden: Amanda Holden is the founder of Invested Development, where she's taught over 25,000 students, mostly women, how to invest. She studied economics and communications at UCLA and worked in investment management before becoming a leading voice on women and money. Her debut book, How to Be a Rich Old Lady, came out in January 2026 and was an instant national bestseller. Online you'll find her as Dumpster Doggy, bringing her activism and her signature trashioned outfits.   ⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN 04:00 | From Surviving to Thriving Why a financial foundation comes first, and where investing actually enters the picture. 10:00 | The Match Isn't Free Money Emergency funds, high-interest debt, and why capturing your employer match is part of your compensation. 17:00 | The Caboodles Metaphor The reframe that makes the whole thing click: the account is the container, the investments are the treasures inside. 34:00 | Index Funds, Without the Jargon What a fund actually is, why you don't have to pick winners, and how owning a little of everything protects you.   💌 Connect with Amanda Holden 📱 Instagram: dumpster.doggy 🎵 TikTok: dumpsterdoggy   📚 Resources Mentioned How to Be a Rich Old Lady by Amanda Holden (available wherever books are sold, and through our bookshop.org link that supports small bookstores and the podcast) Brokerages to open an account: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity Automated investing services: Betterment and M1 (great if you want it handled for you, with M1 offering a bit more control)   💬 Join the Conversation What's keeping you from starting to invest? The jargon, the fear, the feeling that it's just not for you? Rachel wants to hear about it. Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and let her know: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast   🎨 Free Live Workshop: June 24th Spreadsheet made, impulse spending sworn off, lasted about three days? Same. Join Rachel for The Safest Money Talk You've Ever Had, a free live workshop on why money feels so hard and

EPISODE SUMMARY Every time you've crossed your own budget, broken your spending plan, or said yes to something you couldn't afford, it might not have been about willpower at all. It might have been about boundaries. In this season two finale of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel welcomes Natalie Lue, writer behind Baggage Reclaim, host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions podcast, and author of The Joy of Saying No and her newest, How to Say No: The Scripts. Nat has spent years helping people rethink codependency, people-pleasing, and emotional unavailability. Together, they apply all of it to money: how our relationship with money can be similar to the relationship we have with our parents & how splitting the bill becomes a boundary minefield. "What you say yes to, you're saying no to something else. And vice versa." Nat Lue Key Takeaways: Codependency with money looks like trying to please it, fearing it, or feeling controlled by it. The healthier alternative is interdependence We often relate to money the way we were related to as kids: dismissive when things are bad, only courteous when things are good A no doesn't have to be Armageddon. Most of the time it's "no, not right now" or "no, not this way" A clear no often holds space for a yes ("this won't work, but this might"), which keeps connection intact Boundaries are about what you'll do, not what others must do. You take responsibility for your side of the street Asking "what's your budget?" can unlock more money and more clarity than naming a price first People over-personalize others' nos. Get curious instead of making it about you Speaking up about money benefits everyone. Your honesty often gives someone else permission to be honest too   About Natalie Lue: Natalie is the writer behind Baggage Reclaim, host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions podcast (with over 300 episodes), and author of six books including The Joy of Saying No and How to Say No: The Scripts. For over two decades, she's helped millions of people rethink codependency, emotional unavailability, and what it actually looks like to live from values and boundaries. She's also a past Money Healing Club guest favorite, and one of Rachel's go-to teachers on this stuff. ⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN 04:00 | Money as Your Parent How codependency shows up in your wallet, and why so many of us treat money like a parent we're trying to please. 13:00 | When You Treat Money Worse Than Anyone Else in Your Life The shadow side of your money relationship and why the shame keeps it stuck. 21:00 | The Six Magic Words for Saying No "No, not right now" or "no, not this way." Plus how to leave space for a yes without people-pleasing your way back into yes. 28:00 | Bills, Weddings, and Restaurant Math Splitting the check, "pick your brain" emails, wedding guest costs, and the boundary scripts Nat actually uses. 💌 Connect with Natalie Lue 🌐 Website & shop: baggagereclaim.com 🎙️ Podcast: The Baggage Reclaim Sessions 📱 Instagram: @natlue 📚 Resources Mentioned How to Say No: The Scripts by Natalie Lue (450 scripts for dating, family, work, and yes, a whole chapter on money) The Joy of Saying No by Natalie Lue Off the Grid podcast with Amelia Hruby 💬 Join the Conversation Where do you struggle most with money boundaries? Splitting the bill, family loans, "pick your brain" requests, weddings? I want to hear about it. Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 💝 Support the Podcast Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎧 Your next listen: If boundary work has you thinking about your own reactivity around money, head to How to Stop Reacting and Start Responding (Especially with Your Money). https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e27 💫 Visit the Money Healing Club web

EPISODE SUMMARYHave you ever told yourself "if I just hit that number, everything will feel okay" and then hit it, only to find the goalpost moved again? In this episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel welcomes Becky Mollenkamp — feminist business coach, speaker, and author of Liberate Your Business — to unpack the "six-figure lie": capitalism's story that there's a magic number that will finally make us feel like enough. Together they reverse-engineer what it actually means to define enough for yourself, covering the hedonic treadmill, enoughness as a practice, underearning, and collective action. "It always moves. It's never gonna be enough — and that's why we know it's a lie." — Becky Mollenkamp   Key Takeaways: The six-figure (and now seven-figure) target is arbitrary, designed to keep you churning rather than arriving Enoughness isn't settling. The word literally means it's plenty and capitalism warped that Calculating your actual enough number line by line often reveals it's lower than you thought Underearning is just as much a product of the system as overconsuming; both sides deserve healing The three steps toward liberation: awareness, define your enough, lean into discomfort Step four (Rachel's addition): find the people doing it too. You don't have to carry this alone Surplus beyond enough is a choice point, a chance to think collectively rather than just individually Enough applies to more than money: time, rest, connection, community About Becky Mollenkamp: Becky is a feminist business coach, writer, and speaker who helps service-based entrepreneurs build human-first businesses that honor collective flourishing over profit-at-all-costs growth. She's the author of the newly released Liberate Your Business and founder of the Feminist Podcasters Collective, the community that brought Becky and Rachel together. Her work is written for not just business owners.   ⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN 00:00 | The Six-Figure Lie What is it, where did it come from, and why does the goalpost keep moving from six figures to seven to eight? 07:30 | Redefining Enoughness Why "enough" has become a dirty word, and how getting honest about your actual enough number can quietly disrupt the whole system. 19:00 | Liberation Without a 3-Step Plan Awareness, defining your enough, and leaning into discomfort — the messy but real roadmap Becky and Rachel build together in real time. 36:00 | The Gap Is Where Wealth Lives What happens when your income exceeds your enough point — and why having a plan for that surplus changes everything.   💌 Connect with Becky Mollenkamp 📖 Get the book: beckymollenkamp.com/book 🌐 Website: beckymollenkamp.com 🎙️ Feminist Podcasters Collective: feministpods.com   📚 Resources Mentioned Liberate Your Business by Becky Mollenkamp: Available at bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or request it at your local library The Feminist Podcasters Collective: A directory of diverse, independent podcast voices doing meaningful work 💬 Join the Conversation What's your "enough number" and have you ever actually sat down to calculate it? I'd love to hear what comes up for you. Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 💝 Support the Podcast Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎧 Your next listen: Ready to actually raise your rates? Rachel and money witch Sarah Mac dig into the self-worth blocks and cultural conditioning keeping you from charging what you deserve. https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e31 💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.com Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are

EPISODE SUMMARY The money beliefs holding you back aren't just yours. They were handed to you by your culture, your religion, your family, and maybe even your country. In this special episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel Duncan(financial therapist and art therapist) sits down with Ali, a guest joining from Pakistan. This isn't a traditional guest interview. It's a raw, minimally edited, live financial therapy coaching session recorded with Ali's full permission. You'll hear the pauses, the processing, the emotion, and the complexity as it all unfolds in real time. This episode gets into the push-pull with money rooted in scarcity, culture, and what happens when being visible and successful carries real risk. "It's more like an energy that I am attracting as well as resisting and pushing away. That push-pull, I feel it's because of the childhood learnings that were taken from my caretakers and the surroundings and the beliefs that I made around them." — Ali Key Takeaways: Scarcity mindset often gets installed through small everyday moments, not just big financial events The gap between outer presentation and inner reality is a money pattern, not just a cultural one Abandoning projects right at the moment of praise is a real pattern, and it has roots Breaking with tradition to grow a business isn't just hard. Sometimes it can be dangerous. You don't have to be the head goose all the time. Learning your rhythm is part of money healing   About Ali: Ali is based in Pakistan, where he runs his family's plastic packaging manufacturing business. He's also an emotional intelligence coach, NLP practitioner, and youth counselor on his own six-year healing journey. His identity is kept anonymous for safety, but his willingness to share openly makes this one of the most generous conversations we've had on this show. Rachel is actively looking to connect Ali with resources in sustainable manufacturing and executive leadership communities in Southeast Asia. If that's you, reach out at [email protected].   ⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN 00:00 | A Different Kind of Episode Rachel sets the scene: this is a real, live coaching session, not a polished expert interview. Trigger warning included for content touching on religion, politics, gender, and the very real risks of breaking from tradition in Pakistan. 04:30 | Meet Ali: The Push-Pull With Money Ali introduces himself and describes the tension at the core of his money story: feeling simultaneously that wealth belongs to him AND that he doesn't deserve it. His nervous system proves it in real time. 13:00 | The Toblerone Memory One chocolate bar. Thirteen family members. A knife. This early childhood scarcity memory unpacks into a whole conversation about how our first experiences with "not enough" get wired into how we relate to money as adults. 40:00 | The Evil Eye, Visibility, and Business A rich exploration of the cultural concept of Nazar (the evil eye): where it came from, what it was meant to protect, and how it quietly shuts down sharing success, celebrating wins, and being seen in business.   💬 Join the Conversation This episode brought up a LOT. We want to hear from you: what cultural belief about money did you grow up with that you're still untangling today? Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave us a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 💝 Support the Podcast Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎧 Your next listen: Dig into the archive for more episodes on money, the nervous system, and emotional healing at moneyhealingclub.com/podcast  💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.com Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podc