Healing the Scarcity Spending Cycle

Because the part of you driving the behavior isn’t logical—it’s protective. It’s the younger

part of you that learned, early on, that relief was temporary and had

to be seized when available. That part doesn’t trust stability yet.

It doesn’t believe abundance lasts. So it thinks: “Get it now, before it’s gone.”

This is why telling people to “just save more” often fails. It ignores the emotional

memory stored in the body. Until that memory is addressed, money will continue

to be used as a coping tool instead of a resource. Another layer to this is identity.

For people who grew up with little, earning more often triggers a quiet identity conflict.