I Talked to the Economic Central Bank About Money Stress

By Emilie Bellet, Founder of Vestpod

I was invited onto the European Central Bank's podcast, What the Euro?!, to discuss the rising cost of living and the effect it's having on the way people think and feel about money.

What struck me most wasn't the discussion about inflation itself. It was why they wanted to speak to Vestpod in the first place. They weren't looking for economic forecasts or commentary on interest rates. They wanted to understand how people are experiencing these economic shifts in their everyday lives — what happens when the headlines about rising prices start showing up in your supermarket receipts, energy bills and bank balance.

What does it feel like when prices keep rising but your salary doesn't? Why do so many people feel anxious about money even when they're budgeting carefully, paying their bills on time and doing everything they think they're supposed to be doing?

These are questions we hear all the time from our community and they formed the backbone of our conversation.

The problem isn't always you

One of the things I kept coming back to is that many people are far quicker to blame themselves than to acknowledge the reality of what's happening around them. We're often told that financial wellbeing comes down to spending less, budgeting better or being more disciplined. And while those things have their place, they don't tell the whole story.

Many households are facing financial pressures that have very little to do with poor money management. Housing costs have increased, food prices have risen, transport is more expensive and energy bills remain significantly higher than they were a few years ago. For many people, the challenge isn't reckless spending or a lack of planning. It's that the cost of everyday life has changed dramatically.

There is a difference between being bad with money and living through a period when money simply doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Yet when finances feel tight, many of us instinctively assume the problem must be something we're doing wrong.

Money is emotional, not just mathematical

The emotional side of money came up early in the conversation, and it's something I still think we underestimate despite how central it is to the way we actually make decisions.

We talk about money as though it's purely mathematical. Income, expenses, savings rates, investment returns. But anyone who has ever worried about money knows that numbers are only part of the story.

Money is connected to our sense of security, our relationships, our identity and the future we imagine for ourselves. We compare ourselves to friends and colleagues, feel pressure to keep up, and often spend for reasons that have very little to do with logic. Sometimes to celebrate, sometimes to connect, sometimes simply because it's been a long week and convenience wins.

The most interesting conversations about money are rarely about spreadsheets. They're about behaviour, and behaviour is shaped by emotions just as much as information.

Confidence comes from doing, not waiting

Something I hear frequently, particularly from women, is the idea that financial confidence arrives before action. People tell me they'll start investing when they feel more confident, or look at their pension once they understand it better. It's an understandable instinct. In practice it rarely works that way.

Confidence is usually built through engagement rather than expertise. It comes from opening the pension statement you've been avoiding, logging into your investment account, checking your bank balance without judgement or finally asking the question you've been reluctant to ask because you feel like you should already know the answer.

You don't need to know everything before you begin. What matters far more is developing the habit of engaging with your finances consistently, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Focus on what you can control

We can't control inflation. We can't control interest rates. We can't control whether prices go up again next month.

But a significant amount of mental energy goes into worrying about exactly those things.

What we can do: track where our money actually goes. Automate a small amount into savings. Check in on a pension. Put a recurring money date in the calendar and actually show up to it. None of that is glamorous. None of it requires becoming an expert.

But small things done consistently tend to matter more than most people expect.

Financial confidence isn't a destination that some people reach while others don't. It's something that develops gradually when we keep engaging with our money, even when the economic backdrop feels uncertain.

And there’s something I’ve learnt with our community over the years: often, the most valuable financial habit isn't getting everything right, but rather, simply continuing to show up and doing our best.

Listen to the ECB podcast, What the Euro?!,here.