Episode: 373 - Overcoming Money Fatigue
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If you’re feeling worn out from thinking about money right now, you’re not alone. This time of year hits hard—holiday spending, long to-do lists, travel, higher prices, family pressure, comparison… the whole thing can make you want to say, “I’ll deal with my finances next year.”
But feeling tired doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re human. And if you want to keep your progress moving forward without burning yourself out, there are a few powerful mindset shifts and strategies that make all the difference.
Here are the biggest takeaways from this week’s conversation on the Debt Free Dad Podcast.
Why Money Fatigue Happens (and Why It’s Normal)
When you first add up your debt, the mountain can feel impossible. Katie shared that her total was more than she made in several years — and she’s paid off over $237,000 on a single income. That didn’t happen overnight. It happened because she kept going, even when she fell off track, even when it felt slow, and even when she wanted to quit.
The truth is simple:
Getting out of debt is not a microwave. It’s a crockpot.
Slow. Steady. Not always glamorous. But incredibly worth it.
And every single person on the show, whether they’ve been debt-free for years or still working the plan, admitted they’ve felt discouraged and tired at times. That’s part of the journey.
1. Recognize That Fatigue Is Normal
If you’re exhausted, frustrated, or tempted to throw in the towel, it doesn’t mean something’s wrong. It means you’re doing something that matters.
This journey requires patience — and today’s world isn’t built for patience. We can get food, entertainment, music, shopping, and answers instantly. But wealth-building?
That still takes time.
So don’t beat yourself up for wanting a break. Acknowledge it, and you’re already ahead.
2. Take a Break Without Losing Momentum
Brad talked about “treading water,” and it’s an important concept. Sometimes you don’t need to push harder — you just need to pause with intention.
Take a break from big goals if you need it, but:
✔️ Give yourself a time limit
✔️ Don’t slide back into old habits
✔️ Commit to getting back on track on a specific date
A break is not going backwards. Staying stuck in drift mode for months? That’s where the danger is.
3. Focus on the Next Win — Not the Whole Mountain
Katie’s story hits this perfectly. She didn’t look at $237K and say, “I have to conquer this whole thing today.”
She focused on:
• one bill
• one payment
• one small victory
Those tiny wins add up faster than you think.
She’s now down to her last $750 personal loan and expects to hit another huge milestone before Christmas. That momentum is earned one step at a time.
4. Find Fun (and Cheap) Ways to Stay Motivated
Amber shared a great strategy: when she and her husband were deep in their debt journey, saying “no” over and over again became emotionally draining. Everyone else was going out, traveling, spending, and it felt like they were missing out.
Their solution?
They started finding free fun, added small budgeted fun money, and even turned DoorDash into a “date night” that helped them earn extra cash together.
Creativity > deprivation.
5. Protect Yourself From Comparison
One of the biggest killers of motivation is watching other people spend freely while you’re fighting to get ahead. But remember:
Most people aren’t doing what you’re doing.
They’re not budgeting.
They’re not planning.
They’re not paying off debt.
Your path is different — and so are your results.
6. Keep a Simple Daily Money Check-In
During the holidays, time gets tight. Schedules get messy. Goals feel harder.
This is the perfect time to go minimalist:
Spend just 5–15 minutes a day on:
• checking your bank accounts
• verifying transactions
• keeping an eye on spending
• making sure nothing drifts off track
This tiny habit saves you from big problems later.
The Bottom Line
Money fatigue is real — especially right now.
But the goal isn’t perfection.
The goal is progress.
If you need a rest, take it. If you need encouragement, lean on the community. And if you’re feeling worn out, remind yourself that the people who win with money are the ones who stick with it long after the excitement fades.
You’re not behind.
You’re not failing.
You’re doing the hard work that leads to freedom — and it will pay off.
Resources
The Totally Awesome Debt Freedom Planner https://www.debtfreedad.com/planner
Connect With Brad
Website- https://www.debtfreedad.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thedebtfreedad
Private Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/debtfreedad
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/debtfreedad/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@debt_free_dad
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bradnelson-debtfreedad2751/featured
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Transcipt
Brad Nelson:
So let's be real, guys. This time of year can be exhausting when it comes to money. You've been trying to make good decisions, but the holidays, prices, stress, and life all pile up. And sometimes you just get tired of thinking about money at all. And if that's you right now, that doesn't mean you failed. It just means that you're human. So today we're going to be talking about how to rest, reset, and hold your progress through the holiday shopping season, even if you are running low on energy.
Announcer:
You're listening to the Debt Free Dad podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experience the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks, and practical advice to gain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson:
Hey guys, welcome to today's show. I am Brad Nelson, founder of Deaf Free Dad. I paid off about $45,000 of debt. I've been debt-free now for more than 12 years. I've also been fortunate to help thousands of other people save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Deaf Free Dad.
Amber Taylor:
My husband and I saved and paid off $54,000 in just 20 months, and we've been living debt-free outside of our mortgage since 2018.
Chris Hawkins:
And my name is Chris Hawkins, and my wife and I started our journey in 2005. And from 2005 to 2008, we paid off just under $100,000 in debt, and we've been debt-free ever since 2008.
Kati Hatfield:
And I'm Katie Hatfield, and I am still paying off debt and on my way to debt freedom. I have been doing that for seven years, and in that time I have paid off over $237,660 in student loans, credit cards, medical bills, uh, and other fun things. And that's all been on a single income.
Brad Nelson:
Now, after listening to this episode, if you are ready to take things to the next level, you want to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, reduce financial stress, and build your savings and finally pay off your debt for good. But again, maybe you're not sure where to get started. We've created some incredible free resources here at Def Free Dead to help you get there, and we'll be sharing some details about how you can get some of those later on in today's episode. So, guys, I want to quit. I'm tired, right? I've been working on my Def Free journey for a long time, or maybe it's just been a few months, and it just seems like I'm looking at this mountain I have to climb. I'm looking at everything that I have to do. I'm actually calculating that how long it's gonna take me to get there. And you know, fatigue steps in. And it's the same same, even with just this time of year as this episode airs, you know, we're in the midst of the holidays. It's easy to just sit back and just say, I'll get back to it next year, because again, sometimes this stuff can get tiring, life gets in the way, distractions happen. How do we overcome this? And and again, I would like you guys to share. Did you guys ever experience these types of feelings? And Katie, I know you're still doing it, so maybe you still are, but have you experienced any of these types of feelings? I know I have, and in getting out of debt, and even sometimes, even after getting out of debt and reaching other goals, sometimes the goal can be so lofty or so big, and and all of a sudden it's like what's the point? I don't think I'm ever going to get there. And and are you almost can talk yourself out of it, or it can just feel exhausting to try.
Amber Taylor:
The struggle's real.
Kati Hatfield:
Yeah, when you see the number that you add all of your debts up, and it hits you like, How am I ever going to tackle this? This seems impossible. This is never gonna happen. Like for me on a single income, that was just like that's more than I make in several years. So I don't think I can do this. But seven years later, and I've paid off that much, and I only have a little bit left to go. I have a personal loan that I was like $13,000 when I started, and I have $750 left, and I'm like, that'll be done before Christmas. So that's another one before the end of the year. So it's those little momentum things that just keep you moving forward, those little wins, they really work.
Chris Hawkins:
It's been so long for me that's it's it's hard for me to think of details. But I can certainly remember it at the moment thinking, good gracious, this is gonna take forever. Good gracious, this is even possible. Good gracious, how am I even gonna do this? Can I do this? Can I stick with this? And those emotions and those thoughts are real regardless of who you are. And I always try to put myself in the shoes of somebody listening to this podcast. And so I want you to know that you know I've been there, done that. That's been long enough that it's hard for me to relate anymore. It's hard for me to be able to understand the pain quite to the level that it was at at the time. But you can accomplish great things when you set your mind to it. And part of that is understanding that there will be some setbacks, there will be some moments that you get frustrated with yourself, but you can do it. And when those moments happen, give yourself some grace, pick yourself up, keep moving forward, because that's how you get to the end. It's not a microwave method, it's a crockpot method, and it's gonna take you time. And so if you're sitting there going, good gracious, I've started, but I feel like I'm never gonna see the end, it will get there. Trust us, we've all been there. Katie, you've got to be almost to the end.
Kati Hatfield:
I am like less than two years left, and I'm very excited about that. Like, I've definitely fallen off the wagon a few times, and I tried to do this by myself, and it wasn't working the way I was doing it. So when I started doing it with the Roots program, I'm like, well, I gotta try something because my way is not working. So let's just try something else. And this is clearly working because I've stuck with it this long, and even when I've made some financial poor decisions in the last seven years, you're not starting over from zero. You're starting like, okay, I've got this experience, I know what I have to do, I just have to plug back in and not keep going down the wrong path. I know how to get back to the right path and just do the work. And yes, it is a long journey, but it has been absolutely the proudest thing I've ever done. Like my greatest accomplishment. And I'm just so looking forward to being done. And it will happen. I can't wait to celebrate that with you.
Announcer:
It is awesome.
Kati Hatfield:
I think we may have to come down to Brad's house and be like, we're having a journey.
Chris Hawkins:
We may all have to get together and do a live show all together. Yeah, right.
Amber Taylor:
Yeah.
Chris Hawkins:
Now, I would I do want to add one more thing. Unless you're just now out of college and you got a pile of student loan debt, for most of you out there, the journey out of debt, I promise you, is going to be shorter than the journey it took to get into debt.
Amber Taylor:
Yeah. I I think the fatigue for us really set in when we continued to say no to people and we watched other people like going out to the theaters and going out to dinner and inviting us out, and we'd say no. And we kind of got into this funk of like, are we ever gonna have any fun again? So we started to just include a little bit of fun into the budget, but then we also found free things to do, and then we found ways to make money together that kind of made it like a date night. Like we went and did DoorDash and stuff like that for an evening out together, and we just hung out and we made a little bit of cash at the same time. So you kind of gotta spin it and find ways that you know make it fun again when you're feeling like you're struggling or you want to give up.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, that's the double whammy of all of this because you're gonna go through some sort of fatigue when you go through this. It's just it is a marathon race. And with today's society, everything is get it now. I'm gonna age myself. I I know we're all we're all fine on this podcast, but if you're younger listening to this show, like I remember this is a perfect example. If you wanted to listen or record a certain song and you wanted it, you had to wait on the radio on a radio show at night to hit the record button on your tape deck to get that song. And you you you needed patience, like not everything was instantaneous, but today you can get any song in an instant on your phone, and that's just like one example of how just everything is get it now nowadays. You want to watch a show, you can instantly get it on Netflix or whatever. I mean, you don't want to go out and get your food, you get it delivered right to your house. We are just as a society, we are groomed to have everything right now, and because getting out of debt doesn't happen right now, there's no elevator out of it, it's grueling, right? It almost feels like we're not doing it right because it's not happening fast enough. Because I think the way a society is built, the way everything is working now, especially even with debt and payments, that's why they're so enticing, is everything is just so get it now. And when you want to get out of debt, it just doesn't happen that way. And so you really, really have to fight for it. But Amber, you brought it up a good point is that the one that kind of sits on top of that feeling is what everybody else is doing. Because hardly anybody else is probably working on this in your social circle, your friends, your family, your coworkers. They ain't doing this. It's like Amber said, they're going out there having fun, and meanwhile, you're you're sitting back and you're like, I gotta get out of debt. Like, this sucks. What are we doing? Right, and so it is so hard in those moments, and this, you guys, out of everything, budgeting, saving, all the stuff that we talk about. This is the hardest part about getting out of debt is going the distance to get there because it is so easy to drift, it is so easy to get distracted, it is so easy to fall into what everybody else is doing and go back to where you were because it there's just so much pressure there.
Kati Hatfield:
Yeah, I've been playing the the taxi driver for my parents and my sister's family, taking them to the airport to go on their vacations that they've planned. And I'm like, you know what? This year I took a lot of trips last year, and this year I just needed to step back a little bit from the vacation budget and make some more progress, and that was all good. Although now that it's really cold in the towns in my life, I would really like to go to the beach anytime very soon. But I know that it is a struggle, but I see the finish line, it is on the horizon, and I also feel good because I've been doing this so long. Your your true friends that you can talk to honestly about this kind of thing when we're making plans to have dinner or something, and one of my friends was like, Hey, do you mind if we do it like after the 15th or whatever? I just want to, you know, it's gonna be a little tight until payday. And I'm like, Yeah, absolutely. Like, we can adjust plans, and you just have to be flexible. It doesn't mean you're never going to get to have fun, you can just postpone it a little bit further, and yeah, it all works out.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, as we say in roots, and I think this is a military saying, I'm pretty sure it's in the Marines. It's embrace the suck. That's what it is. It really is. It is, it is embracing the suck because it's not always going to be fun, right? And especially this time of year, when we're going through the holidays, it can be even easier to drift and get distracted and put the brakes on everything that you're working on. But the reality is too, is you got to understand that this time of year, especially, is that it's okay. If you're feeling, I think the number one thing you need to understand, number one, if you're feeling this, if you're feeling fatigue, and if you're feeling like this is not fun, it's normal. You're human. Like it wasn't fun for any of us all the time either. And so I think that's the first thing that you need to recognize. And the second thing I think is that important is on this journey is to understand that it's okay to sometimes not have to be going full force all the time. You might have to just take a step back. That does not mean taking a step backwards, it just means take a break for a little bit. It's okay just to just tread water for just a little bit. My only suggestion in that case would be to give yourself a time limit. What is it as a pity party, right? If you're gonna have a pity party and you're feeling sorry for yourself, give yourself a time limit for that. Because if you don't, you're just gonna keep doing it, right? You fall into this dark hole. Well, you want to give yourself a time limit. I'm gonna feel sorry for myself for X period of time, a couple of days, three days, a week, whatever. I'm gonna tread water. I'm not gonna spend any, I'm just gonna take a minute for myself and just take a break. But just give yourself a time limit then to get back to it. Because if you don't, then that drift starts to happen. And drift, like you don't feel that right away. You feel that six months from now. All of a sudden you turn around, you look back, you're going into credit card debt again. You've maybe used some of your emergency fund savings, right? Drift isn't recognized right away. It's recognized in months and years from now if you're not careful. The other thing you guys can focus on too, and we talk about these, like the five daily financial to-dos that we've talked about here on this podcast. And it's really just taking some time and looking at your finances very quickly every day. It doesn't have to take a ton of time, but just get in the habit of looking at your finances five, 10, 15 minutes a day. Check your bank accounts, check your spending, check your credit cards, make it super simple just to stay on track. It doesn't mean that you have to spend and invest all of this extra time, especially this time of year, because with the holidays coming, your schedules are gonna get tight. You're not gonna have nearly as much time throughout the rest of the year that you normally do. So it's good just to take a step back and just be able to just take a few minutes every day, make sure you're on track with everything and not experiencing that drift and slipping backwards. If you are ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, you want to reduce financial stress, build savings, and finally pay off your debt for good, but you're not sure where to get started, don't worry, we've got you covered. Simplify Mat Money is sent to you each and every Sunday to your email. It is your step-by-step roadmap to better financial control, and you're also gonna learn some easy-to-follow strategies to manage your money effectively. It's gonna help you make stress-free money decisions that are gonna help you simplify your financial life with proven tips that actually work, and you're gonna gain the tools and the confidence to tackle your financial goals head on. You can sign up for Simplify My Money by clicking the link at the top of the show notes.
Announcer:
Let's talk about your baby. Let's talk about all the good things, all the bad things, death, baby. Let's talk about debt. Let's talk about debt. Tot into death we dead. Tot into death we dead.
Amber Taylor:
And that sound means it's time for the celebrations of the show. First, we have Jim stayed on track and paid an extra $90 towards debt.
Kati Hatfield:
Claudianne says, no eating out, bills are paid, and saved $50 for their emergency fund. Way to go.
Chris Hawkins:
And Holly, I paid off my first snowball credit card of $928.73. And also put $700 in the emergency fund and another $700 saved for Christmas.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, that's a huge week, you guys. Congratulations, especially. Man, that's awesome. Getting ready for Christmas and the holidays. As always, guys, congratulations to all of you who are taking a stand for your financial life and you are wanting better. Hey, we get that getting out of debt isn't easy, but with our help and with your consistency and discipline, we promise you guys this will be some of the best work that you guys do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us on today's show, and we will see you guys on the next episode.
Announcer:
Thanks for listening to the Debt Free Dad podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Just search Debt Free Dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. We so appreciate it. For resources, show notes, and links mentioned in today's show, visit debtfreedad.com. Catch you next week.
