December has a way of making money feel heavier than usual. Between the pressure to buy, give, host, and keep everything running, spending can quietly shift from intentional to emotional.

On this episode of The Wallet podcast, Emilie Bellet speaks with psychotherapist Holli Rubin about the psychology behind holiday spending. Together, they explore what is actually happening in the brain during December, why spending can offer short-term relief, and how stress, shame, family expectations, and old money stories shape our behaviour far more than logic alone.

This conversation is not about doing Christmas “properly” or cutting back for the sake of it. It is about understanding your responses, recognising when spending becomes a nervous system reaction, and approaching the festive season with more awareness, clearer boundaries, and less pressure.

From re-usable coffee cups to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, it seems we are finally waking up to the need to use our money wisely to protect the future of the planet. We’re recognizing that by matching up small gestures to big policy that we might actually achieve this goal.

It’s that spooky time of year again, and if you’re reading this after dark, you can expect a knock on the door from ghoulies, ghosties and long-leggedy beasties (and hopefully a few cute toddlers dressed as pumpkins).

So naturally we got to asking ourselves what scares us most about money? And how can we work towards exorcising those horrible finance ghosts?

Follow our top tips to minimise the impact of this potentially ruinous time of year.

See here for our investigation into the dangerous combination of darkness and e-commerce.

Unless you’re particularly skilled at mindfulness, going on holiday can prove to be quite the exasperating experience.

Why not free up some space in your wardrobe and monetize on your blunders?

7 painless ways to cut your bill spending

If you’re anything like us (as in, a little bit nosy) - you’ve probably wondered how like-minded women earning different incomes are spending and saving their money.

Turns out, money can buy happiness. And no, it doesn’t come in the shape of holidays on private islands or a pastel-blue Tiffany’s box, although we certainly wouldn’t mind having both. 

We can all think of a million things to spend money on. And, as much as we’d love to consider a pair of Gucci loafers to be a wise purchasing decision, it’s important to keep our spending in perspective, which is where the 50/20/30 budgeting guideline comes in handy.

We know at Vestpod that is is hard work to put a plan together and start saving money, but look at these 4 easy things you can easily save money on!