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There's a specific genre of human who will reorganize their entire spice cabinet, alphabetize their streaming watchlist, and deep-clean the lint trap they didn't know existed…all to avoid opening one banking app. Occasionally, I am that human.

If that's you, too, welcome to the club. You're not lazy, and you're definitely not "bad with money." You're avoidant, which is a completely different and much more fixable problem.

Money avoidance isn't about math. You know how to add and subtract. The dread you feel isn't the balance, it's the anticipation of the balance. Your brain has decided that not-knowing feels safer than knowing, which is a beautiful lie it tells you right up until the bills are due.

The research-y term for this is the "ostrich effect". We'd rather bury our heads than look at scary or uncertain financial information. The catch is that the scary number doesn't get less scary in the dark. It just gets to grow there, unsupervised, like a Gremlin you fed after midnight.

It’s totally normal and okay to be scared (especially when it comes to your money). The trick is not letting that fear sit in the driver’s seat. Recognize it, acknowledge it, and then repeat after me: “I will not let this emotion make my money decisions!”

How can we start to combat our fear and avoidance around money?

So this week, one tiny, almost embarrassingly small assignment: open the app and just look. No fixing, no spreadsheet, no shame spiral. Look at the number for ten seconds and close it. That's it. You're not solving your finances today. You're proving to your nervous system that looking won't kill you.

Remember that the number is just information. And information, even if it isn’t great, is the only thing you can actually work with.

The fake psychological safety we get from avoidance is quite common. Ramit Sethi talks a lot about this in his podcast “Money For Couples.” I highly suggest listening to a few episodes. You may find you’re not alone in this struggle.

If you want to feel real safety, then becoming financially empowered and taking action is the way. Let’s take one small step in that direction today.

For more resources that I recommend check out this page right HERE.

Until next time, Villagers,

-Catie