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Rage Saving: How Financial Trauma Turns Money into a Source of Fear, Not Freedom
“Money isn’t just about what you have—it’s about what you fear losing, what you feel entitled to, and what you believe you don’t deserve.”
— Brooke Sprowl
Introduction: When Saving Becomes a Silent Rage
We often celebrate saving money as the cornerstone of financial health. But what if saving becomes less about freedom and more about fear? What if your bank balance isn’t a sign of security—it’s a silent witness to old wounds, survival instincts, and unprocessed trauma?
In the world of financial therapy, there’s a phenomenon sometimes called “rage-saving”: the compulsive accumulation of money, driven less by rational planning and more by emotional reactivity. It’s a form of financial trauma that turns money from a tool of empowerment into a symbol of threat—and often, of self-punishment.
In this post, we’ll explore how financial trauma roots itself in early life experience, how it manifests in saving behaviours, and how you can move from fear-based accumulation into a healthier, freedom-based financial life.
What Is Financial Trauma—and Why It Matters
Financial trauma is more than debt, budgeting mistakes, or short-term loss. It can include enduring experiences of scarcity, betrayal, financial abuse, sudden job loss, poverty, or intergenerational money fear.
As noted in a feature article:
“Financial trauma… affects our daily life. A traumatic response can be fight or flight. It can be having trouble sleeping or concentrating or eating.” Northeastern News
This trauma doesn’t vanish when the economy improves or a salary increases. Instead, the nervous system stores the experience, shaping how you relate to money, value, safety, and self-worth.
When money feels like weapon or refuge, instead of tool or choice, you are experiencing its shadow side: trauma.
The Roots: Why Our Money Story Hurts
Let’s unpack some of the foundational roots of financial trauma:
1. Early Life Scarcity
Growing up without enough—whether food, shelter, emotional support, or financial resources—imprints the message: There might not be enough. I must grab and hold.
2. Financial Betrayal or Loss
Maybe you witnessed bankruptcy, job loss, or witnessed a parent’s struggle. The fear becomes: If they couldn’t make it, why should I trust money?
3. Intergenerational Messages
Families pass down money beliefs: “Money corrupts,” “Rich people are greedy,” “You’ll never be safe.” These messages can embed shame, guilt, and avoidance. For example:
“Even when there is abundance all around you, your mind is stuck in the tunnel of scarcity…” Shulamit Ber Levtov
4. Society’s Pressure & Comparison
Money is a cultural mirror: what you have is who you are. As one psychotherapist observed:
“Is it normal to feel a deep sense of anxiety after ordering a takeaway pizza, then realising there is no change in the house?” The Guardian
Your internal money narrative becomes: If I had enough, I would be worthy—even though worth is not linked to numbers.
Ready to turn money from prison into partner?
At My LA Therapy, we specialize in financial trauma recovery—helping you move from fear-based saving into values-based abundance.
Five Signs You’re Rage Saving, Not Healthy Saving
Let’s check the emotional quality of your saving behaviour. Are you saving from calm, or are you saving from fear?
You cannot relax when you open your bank app; you feel tension, dread, or anger.
You avoid spending even basic self-care, because it feels disloyal to your future “safe self.”
You sacrifice relationships, joy, or health in the name of “just in case.”
You compare your saving rate obsessively to others’, feeling you’re still behind—even when you’re ahead.
You save but don’t invest, grow, or enjoy—so your money feels inert rather than life-giving.
If yes to any of these, your financial behaviour may be serving trauma more than freedom.
The Impact on Mental, Emotional & Relational Health
When financial behaviour is driven by unresolved trauma, the cost shows up not only in the numbers—but in how you feel and live:
Emotional Toll
Living in constant financial vigilance activates the nervous system’s freeze or fight response. Anxiety spikes, sleep suffers, and the brain remains in “survival” rather than “growth” mode. Research finds strong links between financial worry and psychological distress. PMC
Physical Toll
Chronic stress linked to money fear raises cortisol, weakens immune functioning, increases heart disease risk, and contributes to fatigue and pain.
Relational Toll
Your relationships suffer when money is fear-laden. Trust erodes, generosity falters, and interactions become transactional. The emotional distance and secrecy around money can erode intimacy and safety.
Functional Cost
Money becomes less a resource and more a burden. Decisions stall, risk is avoided, and you might feel stuck—unable to invest, spend, or enjoy life. Productivity and mental clarity decline.
Therapy for Money & Identity
Your finances mirror your self-worth. Let’s align them. Our clinicians support you in healing the emotional roots of your money story and reclaiming the financial life you deserve.
Healing the Money Trauma: 7 Steps to Turn Fear into Freedom
Here’s a pathway to transform your relationship with money—from rage saving and scarcity to peace-based freedom and intentional use.
1. Name the Pain
Start by giving voice to your emotional money story: I grew up believing there wasn’t enough. I watched money betray me. I avoided spending because I feared loss. Naming the experience begins healing.
2. Reconnect Money with Purpose
Ask: What do I truly want my money to do? Freedom? Generosity? Security? By reconnecting to purpose, you shift from hoarding to intentional abundance.
3. Build Emotional Safety Around Money
Schedule regular “money check-ins” in a calm state of mind. Use journaling, bring in a trusted friend or therapist, and practice co-regulation when opening accounts. This builds a new nervous-system layer of safety.
4. Separate Trauma Logic from Financial Logic
Trauma logic is: I must save everything; I cannot risk. Financial logic is: I must plan, assess risk, invest wisely, live now. Learn to ask: Is this decision coming from fear or informed choice?
5. Create Small Experiments in Spending
Commit to controlled experiments: spend a small amount you’d normally refuse to spend. Notice your feelings. Reflect on the meaning: Can I spend without guilt? Without binge? These experiments help re-train your nervous system.
6. Build Boundaries & Permission for Joy
You deserve to enjoy your money. Grant yourself permission to use money in life-giving ways: travel, learning, experiences, kindness. Saving is good, but joy is also good. The balance matters.
7. Seek Therapy for Financial Healing
Financial trauma sits at the intersection of money, identity, culture, and body. Therapists trained in money psychology, somatic work and cognitive-emotional healing can help you re-write your money story and reclaim your financial freedom.
How Therapy Supports Rage-Saving Recovery
Therapy brings together the emotional and the financial. Here’s how:
Cognitive Behavioural Work
CBT helps identify distorted beliefs like “If I spend, I will be unsafe”, and reframe them into healthier beliefs like “Money serves my values and supports my life.”
Somatic & Nervous System Regulation
Trauma is stored in the body, and money is often a trigger. Somatic therapies help you notice physical responses when money is mentioned and release the freeze or hold.
Inner Child & Narrative Healing
You may still carry the child who experienced scarcity, shame or parental financial anxiety. Therapy gives voice to that child so you can give them what they lacked.
Therapy helps you align your money behaviour with your identity, not your survival story. What kind of life do I want to build? becomes your anchor.
Why This Matters Right Now
In an era of economic uncertainty, rapid job changes, inflation and housing pressures, the trauma of money is increasingly relevant. Even people with adequate resources can experience financial fear because trauma is not about the amount—it’s about the meaning.
As one expert noted:
“Money is never just about dollars or pounds… Stockpiling security doesn’t settle the inner alarm.” The Guardian
For many, rage saving isn’t about the plan—it’s about the pain still stuck in the system. Recognising that opens the door to real freedom.
Conclusion: From Rage to Reclamation
Money can be blessing or burden. When you save from fear, you amplify both the trauma and the hold it has on you. But when you save (or spend) from purpose, you reclaim your agency, your identity, and—most importantly—your freedom.
Your past does not have to dictate your financial future. You can build a new narrative where money is a source of possibility, not a symbol of danger. Healing your relationship with money is not just an investment in your finances—it’s an investment in your life.
Stay curious, stay compassionate, and know that your journey is uniquely yours.
And in that uniqueness lies your power.
In the meantime, stay true, brave, and kind,
– Brooke
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Brooke Sprowl is an industry-leading expert and author in psychology, spirituality, and self-transformation. Her insights have featured in dozens of media outlets such as Huffington Post, Business Insider, Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Spectrum One News, Mind Body Green, YourTango, and many more. As the founder and CEO of My LA Therapy, she leads a team of 15 dedicated therapists and wellness professionals. Brooke has been a featured speaker at prominent universities and venues such as UCLA School of Public Affairs, USC, Loyola Marymount University, the Mark Taper Auditorium, and Highways Performance Gallery, to name a few. With a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Welfare with a Mental Health Specialization from UCLA, a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from USC, and certifications in peak performance and flow science from the Flow Research Collective, Brooke has helped hundreds of prominent leaders and CEO’s overcome anxiety, relationship difficulties, and trauma and reclaim a sense of purpose, vitality, and spiritual connection. With 15 years of experience in personal development and self-transformation as a therapist and coach, she has pioneered dozens of original concepts and frameworks to guide people in overcoming mental health challenges and awakening spiritually. Brooke is the host of the podcast, Waking Up with Brooke Sprowl. She is passionate about writing, neuroscience, philosophy, integrity, poetry, spirituality, creativity, effective altruism, personal and collective healing, and curating luxury, transformational retreat experiences for high-achievers seeking spiritual connection.
