MIMH063: Financial PTSD - youramericanmoney
Author: Michelle
Description: At the time of this post, there is yet again, another looming US Government Shutdown. No lies told, the last one left feeling some sort of way. Basically, it left me feeling stressed, anxious, and scared. Before I get into this episode while I do have certain political leanings, this is not a political post […]
Date: 2019-02-11T10:00:00+00:00

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# MIMH063: Financial PTSD

posted on 11 February, 2019

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At the time of this post, there is yet again, another looming US Government Shutdown. No lies told, the last one left feeling some sort of way. Basically, it left me feeling stressed, anxious, and scared. Before I get into this episode while I do have certain political leanings, this is not a political post as I only want to talk about how observing the situation affected me emotionally. I’ve decided to keep this episode unedited.

*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*

## Listen to the Episode

## Show Notes

- Welcome to Michelle is Money Hungry

- I’m you’re host Michelle Jackson, helping financially single women one conversation at a time.

- This episode is sponsored by the Money on the Mountain Financial Retreat for Financially Single Women. Early bird tickets end on February 28. Get your tickets now!

- Access the show notes at: michelleismoneyhungry.com/financialptsd

Hi Everyone,

My name is Michelle Jackson and I have Financial PTSD. While I don’t live in constant financial fear, there are moments that trigger the emotions and physical memories of past financial stressors.

The Government Shutdown was one such stressor. Watching the stories of people who were completely broke, working hard, and then many of whom were required to go to work and not get paid.

That pushed me over the edge.

I’ve had the experience of employers messing with my money. When I was helping my mom out I picked up a side-hustle at a small retail store…that I soon discovered was in the habit of floating checks. My employer at the time would say that the checks were on the way, they were in the mail, or they needed a few days. Then, they would pay us.

I had to leave when one of the other girls working with me had a paycheck bounce and all of her outgoing payments bounced too. Why did I stay at that job? Because at the time it was hard even getting that job.

I’ve had employers place unreasonable expectations on me and not even reciprocate with PTO, raises over 3%, or performance reviews that were above mediocre because they weren’t allowed to score employees above a certain percentage for performance.

There is a reason why I work so hard figuring out how to make money that I generate myself.

Government jobs are supposed to be the most secure jobs out there. Well I decided to research how many times the government has shutdown. Was it just a phenomena from the past 10 years?

Nope-they have been happening since 1980. Some lasted hours, others lasted days. The most recent one lasted for 35 freaking days.

Government jobs are not secure and they basically made workers modern day slaves by requiring them to work without compensation. I personally don’t give a crap about the “back pay” bull crap.

When walk outside your door you are immediately spending money and making money choices.

- Should I take the bus/lightrail/or Lyft?
- Should I bring or buy my lunch?
- Should I purchase a cup of coffee or something to drink

As I watched people talk about how they had less than two dollars on them, or that they had to go to the food pantry, I was freaking triggered.

Fortunately, I’m at the point where I recognize when this happens and have gotten better at managing the stress.

- I acknowledge that there are situations that I will find financially upsetting and will remind me of really stressful times in my financial and personal life.

- When these moments happen, I try to remain calm and focus on what I CAN control.

- I’m clear about the fact that I will have to work on money mindset every single day for the rest of my life.

- I celebrate my financial wins and focus on what I need to learn from what I consider a financial fail.

- I’m mindful to remain empathetic when other people share their financial stories. Who am I to judge?

- Whenever possible I focus on helping others which empowers me and is helpful to others.

- Have you ever experienced Financial PTSD? How does it feel to you? For me it’s:
  - Extreme anxiety
  - I detach quite a bit, if it’s really bad I get really depressed. I had that happen last summer and it was pretty bad.
  - I get migraines or panic attacks

- I share this because even though I’m a personal finance blogger, I’m a human being first. A couple of weeks ago I shared a podcast episode about the need for more empathy in the personal finance community. There is a reason that I am empathetic to the needs, struggles, and cares of the women (and some men) who read and follow my blog.

In the next couple of days we may experience yet ANOTHER government shutdown and I’m being very careful about managing my wellness as we watch the events of the upcoming days unfold.

Thanks so much for listening to the show. Join the From Blogger to Author Live Challenge starting on Sunday, February 17, 2019. Five days of live meetings where we walk through the different actions you need to take to write your first non-fiction OR fiction book. Text: BLOGGERTOAUTHOR to 44222 to get on the list.

## Related Posts

- Thoughts on financial empowerment (podcast)

- Tanja Hester: Lessons Learned From Retiring Before Forty (podcast)

- Money on the Mountain: Financial Retreat for Financially Single Women (podcast)

## Subscribe and Like the Show!

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## Sign up for The Money on the Mountain Retreat Newsletter

Looking for a space to talk about money from the financially single woman’s perspective? Like Yoga, happy hour, and cool people who want you to win with your money? The Money on the Mountain Retreat will be held October 2019 in beautiful Denver, Colorado. Check out the retreat details at: michelleismoneyhungry.com/retreat

Or

Text: MONEYONTHEMOUNTAIN to 44222 to get on the list and stay in the loop!

## Thinking About Starting a Blog?

I love blogging! It has been an incredible experience, transformed my life, and connected me with a ton of amazing people. Blogging is a pretty cheap activity and I recommend hosting your blog with Siteground. Many bloggers have begun leaving HostGator and BlueHost and moving to Siteground. Myself included! Read why I’m leaving HostGator and BlueHost (I have 2 blogs one on each hosting platform) and moving to Siteground. If you’re a new blogger Sitegroundwill cost around $3.95 a month (depending on the size of your audience). They have great customer service and tutorials on how to host your new WordPress blog on Siteground

## Online Business Resources

If you’re thinking about starting an online business, the resources below are a great way to get started.

- The Ultimate List of FinCon Community Products
  - Courses
  - Books
  - Swag

- Make Money with Ebooks–There is more than one way to make money with your writing skills. I’ve created this course to help inspire, educate, and support writers who are sitting on a book idea…and are afraid to write it. This is YOUR year.Make Money with Ebooks is offered at three different tiers to meet different student needs.
  - Self-Study
  - Group Program-Includes access to the closed Facebook Group and twice a month live office hours.
  - VIP Program-Includes access to the closed Facebook Group, twice a month live office hours, and 2 meetings with Michelle to work on book related strategies, goals, etc.

- $10KVA–Are you curious about becoming a Virtual Assistant as a side-hustle or a potential full-time gig? My friend Kayla Sloan is killing it as a Virtual Assistant and schooling other entrepreneurs in how to become a VA that earns on average $10KVA. This course is what I recommend as the first part of creating a virtual assistant business.

- Making Sense of Affiliate Income-If you’re looking to make affiliate income with your blog, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s course is the course that I recommend. She makes well over a $1 Million a year blogging and the biggest chunk of her income comes from affiliate marketing.

- IMark Interactive–Grayson Bell helps me with all of my website related tech issues and he is THE go to guy for WordPress related tech in the several different blogging niches (all the Personal Finance peeps work with him).

- Elite Blog Academy-Many bloggers have gone through this course and I consider this course the “Granddaddy” of all blogging courses. It’s not cheap, but in additional to getting all of the resources that are key to building an incredible blog, you’re also become a part of an insanely supportive (and huge) community of bloggers. Many of whom are making crazy money.

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#### Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.

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