Welcome to Money Rx, SELF’s monthly financial checkup that goes beyond the numbers. Each month, financial educator Tiffany Aliche—a.k.a. The Budgetnista—explores the emotional side of money, diagnoses common money stressors, and prescribes practical, judgment-free solutions for budgeting, saving, debt, and wealth-building formulated to support lasting financial health.
I’ve been meeting a lot of women lately who look like they have it all together on paper. Great career. Steady income. Full calendar. But when they sit down with me, the truth always comes out: I’m exhausted.
And not just the “I need a nap” kind of exhausted. I’m talking about a deeper fatigue. The kind that doesn’t go away with a vacation.
We tend to think burnout only happens when we’re overworked and under-rested. But there’s another kind that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough: The kind that shows up when your life, your money, and your goals aren’t aligned with who you truly are.
I’ve seen countless successful women exhaust themselves chasing goals that look impressive on the outside but feel hollow on the inside. The prestigious title. The “right” school for the kids. The house. The car. But let me ask you: Who are you really doing this for?
Sometimes we’re working overtime, staying in jobs we don’t love, or stretching our finances to the limit, not because it’s what we truly want, but because it’s what we think we’re supposed to want.
Take private school tuition for example. I’ve seen women pay far more than they can comfortably afford because they want their kids to have a “better” education even when they live in areas with excellent public schools. And I’ll ask: Is this truly about education—or is it about perception? More importantly, what is it really costing you? Are you working longer hours to keep up? Staying in a draining job? Putting your own dreams on hold?
Burnout doesn’t just cost you energy. It can cost you your peace, your time, and your financial freedom.
The tricky part? When you’re burned out, the instinct is often to push through. Especially as women, we’ve been taught to hold it together, to make it work no matter what. But pushing through misalignment doesn’t fix it, it only deepens it.
Alignment fuels you. Misalignment drains you.
Let me be clear about one thing. Working hard is not the same as being burned-out. You can be busy and energized or barely working and completely depleted. When I was writing my NYT best-selling book, Get Good With Money, I worked long hours almost every day—writing, editing, collaborating, promoting. It was a lot. And yet I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I felt excited. Fulfilled even. Because that work was fully aligned with my purpose of teaching women how to live richer and be financially whole at any stage in their life.
