Is My Income the Real Reason I'm Stressed About Money?

You’ve been making smart decisions—cutting expenses, tracking your spending, even building up your savings—but something still doesn’t feel right. If you’ve ever looked at your budget and thought, “Maybe I just don’t make enough,” you’re not alone. In this episode, Ralph explores the emotional weight of income worries and how they impact our ability to find peace, even when we’re doing everything else “right.” This is an honest, faith-based look at the question many are too afraid to ask: Is my income the real reason I’m stressed about money?

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Check out the full podcast episode here

Ralph offers encouragement and guidance for assessing your income honestly, exploring new opportunities with integrity, and shifting from passive worry to prayerful action. You'll also get one practical step you can take this week—something small but specific—to move forward with clarity. Whether you’re dealing with a paycheck that barely stretches or income that fluctuates, this conversation will help you stop spinning your wheels and start building a plan rooted in stewardship and peace.

Chapters:

• 00:22 - Addressing Income Concerns
• 01:25 - Understanding Income Stress
• 05:38 - Addressing Income Stress
• 08:39 - Managing Income and Financial Stewardship
• 11:46 - Transitioning to Income Management Strategies

Takeaways:

• Managing your spending and tackling debt is solid, but feeling underpaid can really stress you out.
• Income instability can mess with your mind and make budgeting feel pointless sometimes, right?
• We need to realize that how we spend our income matters just as much as the amount we earn.
• God wants us to be wise stewards of our income, so let's assess and explore our options!
• Feeling trapped by income struggles? Time to take action and brainstorm ways to boost that cash flow!
• Prayer and action go hand in hand—ask God for guidance while you work on improving your income situation.

Links referenced:

• financiallyconfidentchristian.com/master

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Episode Transcript

Ralph (00:00):
Let's face it.
You've been doing amazing work.
You've been managing your spending,you've been tackling debt, and
you've been building that savings.
But maybe just maybe deep down, youfeel like the real problem is simply
that you don't earn enough money.
You're thinking maybe,hey, that's the issue.
Does that feel weigh on you making otherfinancial steps feel less impactful?

(00:22):
Well, stick with me becausewe're getting into exactly how
to address that on today's show.
Hey there.
Welcome back to your DailyFinancially Confident Christian.

(00:44):
I'm Ralph and it's incredibleto walk alongside you.
This show is all about how to help youanswer that question, how can I become
a financially confident Christian?
And today we're continuing our series, ondealing with the stress of money worries.
And a lot of people havestress about money and this.
Series is all about how to breakthat down, and we've covered

(01:06):
a great deal of ground on thespending side of your finances.
We talked about budgeting.
We've discussed tracking.
We've given you ideas forsaving and tackling debt and
actually managing your credit.
And listen, these are fundamentalsteps to gaining control and finding
that peace that you're looking for.
But today we're gonna shift our focus.

(01:27):
We're gonna get to theother side of the equation.
We're gonna talk about income.
We're gonna look at the top of the model.
'cause we've gotta look at both sides.
'cause here's the truth, manypeople, that feeling that their
income is too low or just toounstable is a major source of stress.
It can feel like no amount ofbudgeting can actually fix it.

(01:49):
So let's ask this question today.
Is my income the real reasonI'm stressed about money?
And here's the more important part,and this is the part I really wanna
share today, is what can I do about it?
Well, maybe you look at your budgetand you realize, Ralph, listen
dude, even if I cut back everywhere.
Everywhere I possibly can.
Wow.
There just isn't enough money to goaround to cover my needs, to pay off my

(02:13):
debt quickly, like you talk about, or tosave for my goals and listen, I'm putting
my best efforts into this budgeting,or perhaps the stress comes from income
that's unstable or unpredictable.
We're actually gonna talk aboutthat on tomorrow's show, so that's
a little preview of tomorrow, how tohandle your income when it fluctuates.
That feeling of income inadequacy orthat feeling of income instability.

(02:37):
I hear you.
That's a major stressor, and itleads to these deep feelings of
being trapped or just this absolutefear of being unable to get ahead.
But here's the thing Iwant you to hear today.
Income is definitely afactor in financial health.
It just is.
And stress often comes from how incomeis managed, as well as the amount.

(03:01):
Here's the truth, and I need you to hearthis today and maybe something you're
not ready to hear, or not somethingyou're really actually ready to accept.
Two people with the same income, the sameincome, one person A, person B, have the
same income, can have vastly differentlevels of financial stress and financial
stability based on their spending, andhere's the key to it, based on their

(03:23):
spending and their savings habits.
That said, honestly, assessing yourincome and seeking to be a good steward
of it is absolutely a biblical concept.
So this is something that we need tobe aware of if we're going to really be
those financially confident Christians.
And I wanna share this with you becauseI don't know if you hear this everywhere.

(03:45):
I know very wealthy people who arealways stressed about money and some
of the poorest folks that I know.
By normal, what we call money standardsare some of the most content and
happy people that you will ever meet.
So we need to remember that well beforewe even get into this discussion,
God is the ultimate provider and heoften provides to us through our work.

(04:07):
he provides for us and hegives us opportunities.
The Bible encourages us to be diligentin our labor and wise handling its fruit.
Look at the book of Proverbs,chapter 14, verse 23.
I love this one.
It says this.
It says, all hard work brings a profit,but mere talk leads only to poverty.

(04:28):
See if we're just gonna talk aboutsomething, where are we gonna end up?
You're gonna end up in poverty.
It's work that brings a profit.
And look at Proverbs chapter 13, verse 11.
It highlights that steady,that diligent effort.
This is what it says, and I'veused this on the show many times.
Dishonest money dwindles away,but whoever gathers money
little by little, makes it grow.

(04:52):
There's profit in that.
Think about that dishonest money.
If you make it dishonestly,it's gonna dwindle away.
But what does the Bible say?
But whoever gathers money, little bylittle, little by little, one step
at a time, your daily show here,little by little, makes it grow.
So that needs to be our focus.
See, God calls us to be diligentin our work, and He trusts us.

(05:13):
He trusts us.
Think about this.
The Lord of the universe trusts us tomanage the income that he provides us,
and he wants us to manage it wisely.
And I truly believe thiswith all of my being.
Stress comes from not being a goodsteward of the income that we do have.
And I know you didn't want to hear that.
Or maybe from the lack of faithin seeking opportunities while

(05:35):
we're working diligently, butnow let's change the focus.
Let's talk about, what can we do.
When you feel stressed about your income,how do you move from feeling trapped by
it to actually proactively addressingit in a way that reduces that stress?
Well, I've got a solution and I'm gonnacall it my most critical solution, and
it starts with prayer And then I wantyou to diligently assess your current

(05:58):
income and wisely listen to me wisely.
Explore realistic, ethicalopportunities to manage it better,
or potentially increase it.
But then I want you to do one more thing.
I talked about this a minute ago,trusting God to guide your efforts,
and I want you to hear me clear.
This isn't about chasing riches.
That can take you to a really dark place.

(06:21):
It is about being a faithfulsteward of your God given capacity
to earn and manage resources.
So let me give you yourone action step for today.
Here's your one vital action stepthat I want you to take today,
and it's specifically focused onproactively addressing your income.
The first thing you've gotta dois honestly assess your income.
Look at where your incomeis right at this moment.

(06:44):
We've done this with our budget.
We've done this with the, thefinancial snapshot that we
talked about a week or two ago.
You got to get a clear understanding ofhow much money is coming in each month.
Now, I want you to start thinkingabout that in terms of after
taxes, because that's the moneythat you can actually spend.
It's gonna be the money after taxes,after your deductions for health
insurance and all those kind of things.

(07:04):
And if your income fluctuates.
And we'll talk about thatmore in tomorrow's show.
I don't have time to handle it today.
But I need you to create arealistic average or use the lowest
predictable amount for planning.
So start by understandingwhat your income is.
Then I want you to take like 15 or20 minutes to just open the door to
brainstorming ways that you couldrealistically and ethically manage your

(07:26):
income more effectively, or maybe look atother opportunities to make more income.
We were out with my, myyoungest son yesterday, and he
was talking about the stress.
He wants to buy a new home andlisten, a lot of us have been there.
I. I said to him, I said, well,where are you spending your money?
Now?
Of course, he didn't wanna godown that conversation road, so
we didn't really push it too much.
But I said, you know, the otherthing you can do is look at

(07:47):
adding more income to the, to, toyour, to your what's coming in.
See, you can do either one.
So if you're in this brainstormingseries, one of the things you
might wanna consider is look atthe average salaries for your job.
Maybe you're being underpaid and youneed to have that difficult conversation
with your boss and say, listen.
I'm being underpaid.
If you look at what everyone elseis doing, I'm being underpaid.

(08:10):
Maybe there's a new skillthat you could develop.
Maybe that seal could lead you toadvancement or to another side hustle,
like I talked about with my son.
You can make some extra money.
maybe you can take your existingskills, your hobbies, and actually put
those into work to make some money.
One of the things I talk about onthe show routinely is maybe selling
items that you don't need any longer.

(08:30):
Or maybe we gotta getback to that expense side.
Maybe you need to refine yourbudget further to free up some cash.
So once you've done that brainstorming,I don't wanna overwhelm you.
I just want you to pick one specific smallactionable step that you're gonna take
this week related to that income side.
Again, that might be research andaverage salaries for your role.
Looking for a specific side hustle idea,or like I said, identifying one skill

(08:54):
to develop or list three items to sell.
Then I want you to just close out withprayer and just say to God, God, listen,
I really wanna make things better.
What?
What can you show me on myincome side or my work side?
And just ask God for wisdom.
Ask him for guidance and ask himto open the right doors according
to his will for your provision.

(09:15):
And I'm gonna tell you right now,If you do this, it's going to shift
your focus from this passive worry.
You're gonna move away from thatpassivity, and you're gonna be
proactive and you're gonna lookfor faith-based exploration.
it might even open up the door to managingyour existing income better, or you
might find a way to make more money.
And in the end, this is one ofthe biggest benefits of this.

(09:37):
It's going to align your workand your financial efforts with
principles of diligent stewardship.
Well, let's pray together now.
Father God, we just thank youfor being our ultimate provider.
And for the abilityyou've given us to work.
And Lord, we just confess thatstress, the stress that we feel
often arises from feeling like ourincome is insufficient or unstable.

(09:59):
And Lord, we ask you to help us bediligent and help us to be wise in how
we manage the income that you provide us.
And Lord, we just ask youto grant us clarity as we
assess our current situation.
Give us wisdom, give us discernmentas we explore potential opportunities
to manage or increase our income.
And Lord, we just ask that you wouldguide our steps and open up doors

(10:21):
according to your perfect will.
And we ask that you wouldhelp us to trust you for our
provision as we work faithfully.
And we just ask this with confidence.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Listen, your income is a resourcefrom God to be stewarded wisely.
And if you're proactive inassessing it and exploring

(10:41):
opportunities, it's not a chase.
It's not that you're chasing more money.
It's about faithful managementof the talents and abilities
that God has given you.
So I'm gonna encourage you again,take one action, step today.
Take one action step this week.
And if addressing your income feels likea necessary part of dealing with your
money, stress, I'm gonna encourage you,share this episode with someone else

(11:03):
who might be right where you are, who'sgoing through this same type of stress.
this show could be areal godsend for them.
You can find resources and connectwith their show at our website
that's at financially confidentchristian.com, and I've got a great
free gift for you today for the first100 listeners who go to financially
confident christian.com/master.

(11:26):
I'm gonna give you a free copy of my book.
It's called Mastering Your Finances Now.
It's not some big long read.
It's quick, but it's powerful and it'sdesigned to give you that starting
point to help you break that cycle offinancial shame and step into confidence.
Again, go to financiallyconfident christian.com/master
and get your free copy today.
Now, as I talked about.

(11:47):
Tomorrow we'll be talking about aspecific income challenge, and that's
how to manage your money effectively.
When your income isn'tpredictable or consistent,
that's one you don't wanna miss.
So make sure you join me now.
Let's all go out there andbe financially confident.
Christians, you can do this.
I have confidence in you.
Have confidence in yourself.

(12:08):
I encourage you today tostay financially savvy.
God bless you, and youhave a great day today.