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
61 episodes
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...
The Permission Slip You Didn't Know You Needed: Giving Yourself Permission to Not Be Perfect With Money
The voice that says "I'll start when I can do it properly" is not the careful, responsible part of you. It's a trap. This episode is about why financial perfectionism quietly destroys more financial lives than overspending does — and what the r...
You Don't Need to Feel Like It: Financial Behavior Change Without Motivation
Most personal finance advice is basically motivational content in disguise. This episode isn't that.The research is pretty clear: motivation fluctuates, willpower runs out, and any financial system that depends on how you feel on a Tuesd...
Money as a Control Substitute
Why Financial Caution Often Isn’t About MoneyWhy do people save excessively, hoard cash, or over-insure—especially during uncertain times?In this episode, we explore how money often becomes a substitute for control w...
Risk Perception vs. Risk Reality
Why Knowing the Risk Doesn’t Mean You Can Feel ItWhy do people fear market losses more than income loss—even though income risk is often more dangerous?In this episode, we explore the gap between risk perception and risk...
Values-Based Spending as Cognitive Alignment
Why does money still feel stressful—even when you budget, save, and make “smart” financial decisions?In this episode, we explore how misalignment between values and spending creates chronic cognitive stress. Using a CBT-adjacent, ...
The Quiet Weight: Shame, Self-Worth, and the Silence Around Money
Most people aren’t bad with money. Most people are ashamed about money.In this deeply honest episode, we unpack the emotional weight so many of us carry in silence — the shame around debt, income, spending, being “behind,” or no...
Financial Decision Fatigue and Cognitive Load
Why Managing Money Feels Harder Than It ShouldWhy does managing money feel exhausting—even when you “know what to do”?In this episode, we explore financial decision fatigue and the hidden cognitive load baked into mo...
The Psychology of “Enough” — Why Financial Satisfaction Is Elusive
Why does financial satisfaction feel so hard to reach—even when income rises, savings grow, and goals are met?In this episode, we explore why humans are cognitively bad at recognizing sufficiency, and how modern money systems quietly exp...