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Episode 45: The time I bought $200 worth of candles. A lesson in Self-Soothing, Spending & Financial Awareness

In this episode, I share a personal (and slightly funny) story about the time I bought $200 worth of Bath & Body Works candles while recovering from a traumatic accident and why it had nothing to do with the candles.

This conversation isn’t about “bad spending.” It’s about awareness.

We explore how emotional spending, self-soothing, and instant gratification quietly shape our financial lives—especially for high-earning women who still feel stuck, anxious, or disconnected from their money.

This episode is a reminder that wealth isn’t built through perfection. It’s built through honesty, nervous system awareness, and new habits that don’t rely on shame.

  • The real reason behind the $200 candle purchase

  • Why emotional spending isn’t about the dollar amount

  • How self-soothing with money becomes a habit (and how it compounds)

  • The difference between one conscious choice and repeated unconscious behavior

  • Why financial shame keeps people stuck in the spending cycle

  • How to pause before purchases without deprivation or rigidity

  • Simple ways to regulate your nervous system without hurting your finances

  • Why learning to say “no” to yourself builds financial confidence

  • How to shift from instant gratification to aligned wealth

  • Awareness is the first step to changing your relationship with money

  • Emotional spending doesn’t make you bad with money—it makes you human

  • Wealth grows when spending aligns with priorities, not emotions

  • You don’t need dramatic changes—small pauses create big shifts

  • Financial confidence comes from trusting yourself, not being perfect

  • What emotions usually show up before you spend?

  • Are your purchases bringing relief—or reinforcing shame?

  • Is this choice moving you closer to or further from the life you want?

  • Emotional spending & self-soothing

  • Nervous system regulation and money

  • Dopamine, shopping, and instant gratification (future episode)

Follow me on TikTok & Instagram: @WallStreetGirlNextDoor

If this episode resonated, share it with a woman who needs to hear that she’s not broken—she just needs a different relationship with her money.

And if you enjoyed this episode, leaving a rating or review helps spread the message of financially empowered women. 💸✨