Personal Finance With Molly
What if the biggest obstacle to your financial success isn't your income — it's your mind?
Personal Finance With Molly is the podcast where money, mindset, and behavior intersect. Each week, I, Molly, break down the psychology behind your financial decisions, helping you understand why you spend, save, and invest the way you do — and how to make smarter choices starting today.
From unpacking cognitive biases that quietly drain your wallet to exploring the emotional patterns behind debt and wealth-building, this show turns behavioral finance research into real, actionable guidance for everyday people.
Whether you're just starting your financial journey or looking to break habits that have held you back for years, Personal Finance With Molly gives you the tools to rewire your relationship with money — one episode at a time.
Subscribe, and start thinking differently about your finances.
Episodes
70 episodes
The Illusion of Control: How to Trust Yourself With Money — the Smart Way
You're not as in control as you think — and that's actually okay. In this episode of Personal Finance With Molly, we're unpacking two of the most fascinating and financially costly cognitive biases: the Illusion of Control and Overcon...
Her Money, Her Way: The Psychology Behind How Women Save, Spend, and Build Wealth
Episode OverviewThis episode explores the behavioral finance forces that shape how women relate to money — from the money messages absorbed in childhood, to the psychological patterns that influence saving, investing, and negotiat...
Are We In a Loop? How Thoughts, Feelings, and Money Habits Feed Each Other
Episode OverviewEver wonder why you keep doing the money things you swore you'd stop doing? In this episode, we dig into the CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) framework to show you exactly how your thoughts, feelings, and behavio...
From the Inside Out: How Your Emotional Life Powers Your Financial Life
Episode SummaryIn this episode, we explore the powerful and often underestimated connection between mental health and financial decision-making. Drawing on behavioral economics, neuroscience, and financial therapy research, we bre...
Why Your Next Raise Won't Make You Happy (And What Will)
Episode Description: You worked hard for that promotion. You earned the raise. So why does it feel like... not enough? In this episode, we dig into one of the most powerful — and most overlooked — forces in personal finance: the hedonic ...
First Paycheck Energy: The Behavioral Finance Secrets That Change Everything
Episode DescriptionYour first paycheck hits and suddenly you feel invincible. But lurking beneath every "I'll deal with it later" and every lifestyle upgrade is a set of mental traps that behavioral economists have studied for dec...
The Money Mind: Why Windfalls Vanish — A Behavioral Finance Deep Dive
Episode SummaryMost financial advice about inheritances focuses on what you should do — park the money in a high-yield savings account, wait six to twelve months, pay off high-interest debt, build an emergency fund. That ...
Money Flows Where Identity Goes: How to Finally Become Someone Who's Great With Money
Episode SummaryWhat if the biggest thing standing between you and financial freedom isn't your income, your debt, or even the economy — but the story you've been telling yourself about who you are with money? In this epis...
Spend Less, Save More, Feel Amazing: The Psychology-Backed Money Reset
Episode SummaryWe all know what we should do with money. So why don't we do it? In this episode, we dive deep into the fascinating world of behavioral finance — the science of why smart people make dumb money decisions. Y...
Everything Is Relative — Why Your Brain Is Secretly Terrible at Handling Money (And What to Do About It)
Episode Summary: Your brain doesn't think in dollars. It thinks in comparisons — and that one quirk might be quietly sabotaging your finances in ways you've never noticed. In this episode, we dig into the fascinating, sometimes ...
The Hidden Price Tag: Why Every 'Yes' Is a Secret 'No'
Episode Summary: You think the latte is $6. Wrong. You think the new car is $35,000. Wrong again. In this episode, we blow the lid off one of the most underrated concepts in personal finance — opportunity cost — and explain why your brai...
Your Parents Called — They Want Their Money Trauma Back: How Your Childhood Is Still Running Your Wallet
Episode Summary: Ever wonder why you hide shopping bags before your partner gets home, panic at a zero balance even when you're financially fine, or feel guilty every time you spend money on yourself? Surprise — you probably learned that...
How to Make Friends With a Version of Yourself You've Never Met
Tagline: Your future self is out there right now, living with every financial decision you're making today. The problem? Your brain treats them like a complete stranger.Episode Summary: Why do smart, caring people consisten...
What Lottery Winners Can Teach Us About Sudden Wealth Syndrome
They won millions. They lost it all. Here's what their brains were doing the whole time — and why it matters for your money too.Episode Summary: Most people think lottery winners who go broke are just reckless or dumb. They're not...
The Price Is Wrong: Why Inflation Feels Way Worse Than It Is (And Sometimes Way Better)
Episode Description: Inflation is a number. But it doesn't feel like a number — it feels like a personal attack. Why does a 4% inflation rate feel like the economy is collapsing while a 6% raise feels like barely enough? Why do ...
Are You Treating Future You As a Stranger? How Projection Bias Is Working In Your Finances
Episode Description: You bought a ski pass in January and never used it. You signed up for a meal kit service when you were very hungry. You took out a 30-year mortgage on a house you'd "definitely" live in forever. What's the c...
The Mental Piggy Banks in Your Head — How Mental Accounting is Secretly Running Your Finances
Episode Summary: Ever wonder why you'll spend a $100 gift card on something frivolous but agonize over spending $100 of your "real" money on the same thing? Or why a tax refund feels like a windfall even though it was your money all alon...
Why Your Brain Is Terrible With Money (And What To Do About It): An Intro to Behavioral Finance
Episode Summary: You've read the personal finance books. You know you should save more, spend less, and invest consistently. So why don't you? The answer isn't willpower — it's your brain. In this episode, we're breaking down be...
You're Not Broke — You're Wired Wrong: The Hidden Psychology Behind Cost vs. Worth
Episode Summary: Why do you drop $7 on a coffee without blinking, but agonize for three days over a $40 online course? Why does a $500 suit feel like a bargain at the outlet mall, but a $500 coaching session feels extravagant? The answer...
One Day You'll Wish You Started Today
Episode Summary: Why do smart, capable people consistently fail to save, invest, or build wealth — even when they know they should? In this episode, we go deep into the psychology behind financial inaction. Drawing on behavioral...
Success Takes Longer Than You Think
Episode Summary: In this episode, we explore one of the most underrated truths in personal finance: success takes far longer than your brain wants to believe. Drawing on behavioral finance research, we unpack the specific cognitive biase...
Shift Your Identity, Shift Your Money
Episode Summary: Why do smart people make consistently bad money decisions? The answer isn't a lack of information — it's identity. In this episode, we explore the behavioral finance research behind why your self-concept drives your fina...
The Budget Myth — What Nobody Tells You About Why Budgets Fail
I take a scalpel to one of personal finance's most beloved pieces of advice: the idea that budgeting is all you need to improve your relationship with money. Drawing on behavioral economics and psychology research, this episode identifies six h...
"The Cycle Ends With Me!"
EPISODE SUMMARYMost personal finance advice treats money problems as math problems. Budget better. Spend less. Earn more. But what if the real obstacle isn't your spreadsheet — it's the story you inherited?In this episode, ...
Habits That Move the Needle: A Behavioral Finance Deep-Dive
You already know you should be saving more, investing consistently, and spending with intention. So why aren't you? The answer isn't willpower — it's neuroscience. In this episode, we go deep into the behavioral psychology behind financial deci...
