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“I make decent money…So why do I still feel broke?”
If you’ve ever thought that, you’re not alone. I hear this exact sentence from people in their first or second job, from hourly workers, salaried professionals, and even people earning more than they ever have before.
What makes this feeling so frustrating is that it doesn’t match the numbers. You’re working. You’re earning. You’re paying your bills. On the outside, it looks like you should be fine. But internally, money still feels stressful, unclear, and heavier than it should.
That disconnect creates shame, self-doubt, and a constant sense that you’re behind, even when you can’t explain why.
Here’s the truth most people never hear:
Feeling broke is rarely about how much money you make. It’s about how clear you are on what your money is doing.
There’s an unspoken expectation in your early career that once you start earning “real money,” things should fall into place. But no one explains how much actually changes during that transition.
Your financial world expands fast. Expenses increase. Expectations shift. You’re suddenly responsible for decisions you were never taught how to make.
Rent gets more expensive. You’re paying for your own insurance. Subscriptions pile up quietly. Social spending becomes more frequent. There’s pressure to look like you have it together, even if you don’t feel that way yet.
And very few people are shown how to build a money system for this stage of life. You’re expected to just figure it out.
That gap is where the stress comes from.
One of the most frustrating parts of feeling broke is knowing that, on paper, youshould be fine. The income is there. The bills are paid. But there’s still stress, uncertainty, and the feeling that money disappears faster than it should.
This disconnect isn’t income-based. It’s all about visibility.
When money is spread across accounts, apps, notes, and mental math, it becomes hard to see the full picture. Even people with steady or growing income can feel broke when they don’t have a clear, centralized way to see where money goes and how decisions affect the bigger financial picture.
If you feel broke, chances are it’s a sign of disorganization, not financial failure.
One of the biggest myths in personal finance is that earning more money automatically creates peace of mind. In reality, higher income without structure often creates more stress.
Because as income increases, so do decisions.
Decisions like…
Without a system, every one of these becomes a mental negotiation. Over time, that constant decision-making creates anxiety and avoidance. People stop checking accounts. They delay decisions. They tell themselves they’ll deal with it later.
That’s when the “I feel broke” feeling shows up, even if the math says otherwise.
My Money Playbook | Your Personal Finance Coach & Training Guide
Most people blame themselves when money feels tight. They assume they’re irresponsible, undisciplined, or bad with money.
What they’re actually experiencing is decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue happens when you’re forced to make too many choices without clear guidelines. When there’s no structure, every purchase feels emotional. Every expense feels heavier than it should.
You’re not struggling because you lack discipline. You’re struggling because you don’t have guardrails.
A clear money system removes the constant mental back-and-forth. It tells you what your money is for before you spend it, so you’re not negotiating with yourself every time.
When people feel stuck, they usually turn to free resources. Online budgets. Social media advice. Articles promising quick fixes.
Some of that information is helpful. A lot of it is not. And it leaves the responsibility to you to wade through the financial advice muck.
The bigger issue is inconsistency.
One person tells you to cut everything. Another influencer says to “pay yourself first.” Someone else insists you need multiple accounts, spreadsheets, or rigid rules. None of it takes into account your actual income, expenses, or lifestyle.
And without context, advice becomes noise. People jump from strategy to strategy trying to find the one that finally clicks. Instead of feeling clearer, they feel more confused and less confident.
This is where people start saying, “I know what I should do, I just don’t do it.” That’s your sign it’s a structural problem.
People don’t feel better about money when they tighten their restrictions. People feel better when theyunderstand their money.
When you know where your money is going, what it’s supposed to be doing, and how to make decisions ahead of time, money stops feeling reactive. You stop guessing. You stop avoiding. You stop feeling like every decision is the wrong one.
Financial clarity requires a system you can return to again and again, even when life changes.
Most financial advice assumes income is predictable. For many people, that’s not reality.
Hourly workers deal with fluctuating pay. Overtime changes things. Schedules shift. Some months look very different from others.
Salary workers face a different challenge. Pay might be consistent, but expenses aren’t. Bonuses, commissions, benefits, and irregular costs still make planning difficult.
When financial advice doesn’t reflect how you actually get paid, it’s hard to trust it. That’s why so many people abandon budgets and tools after a few weeks.
A money system has to work with your income, not against it.
Many people pay attention to their money. They check balances, glance at transactions, and try to be mindful.
And that awareness helps, but it’s only the first step.
Without a system to organize that information, awareness stays scattered. Knowing where money went last month doesn’t automatically translate into better decisions this month.
Control comes from having one place where income, expenses, and priorities come together. When everything lives in one system, patterns become clearer and decisions feel less reactive.
This is why people can make good money and still feel broke. The awareness is there, it’s the structure that doesn’t exist yet.
When your willpower feels unreliable, the need for structure becomes that much more valuable.
When you rely on willpower, every decision requires energy. When you rely on a system, most of those decisions are already made.
This is why high performers rely on systems in every area of their lives. Your approach to money should be no different.
A good money system supports follow-through, accounts for human behavior, and expects life to change. Because when decisions stop being emotional, people stop feeling behind.
This is exactly why I created theMy Money Playbook: Hourly & Salary Edition.
After more than 15 years of coaching people on money, I saw the same patterns over and over again. People didn’t need more advice. They needed structure they could actually follow.
The Playbook walks you through building a clear money system step by step. It helps you organize income and expenses, reduce overspending, and make confident decisions without spreadsheets or complicated rules.
It also includes access to an ongoing learning library so you’re not left guessing how to apply the system to your own life.
If you make money but still feel broke, it means something is missing. That something isn’t hustle or discipline. It’s clarity.
You don’t need to earn more before you feel better about money. You need a system that helps you understand what you already have and how to use it intentionally.
If you want help choosing the right approach, you can alsofind the planner that fits your income.
