The Rachel Cruze Show - Unexpected Ways Money Might Be Ruining Your Life  

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

✍️ Start your 90-day journey to lasting contentment with The Contentment Journal. Money can be a blessing, but without intentionality, it can do more harm than you realize. In this episode, find out three ways money might be hurting you and what you can do to take back control. Next Steps: 🎥 Watch my video 5 Money Habits That Will Change Your Life (if You Actually Do Them). 💵 The simplest way to budget. Download the EveryDollar app for free! 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.  Connect With Our Sponsors: Learn more about ⁠Christian Healthcare Ministries⁠. Get 20% off when you join ⁠DeleteMe⁠. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman  📈 EntreLeadership  Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I think most people would agree that having money is generally a good thing. And I agree that your income is your most powerful wealth building tool that you have. But I also believe no matter your paycheck or your tax bracket, money can destroy certain areas of your life without you even realizing it. So today we're going to talk about three ways that money might be ruining your life and some practical steps to get out of the cycle before it gets out of control. Before we jump in, make sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. All right, the first place that money can ruin you is your identity. Listen, we live in America.

And the American kind of Western way of looking at things is that you want to be successful. Like in America, it is like, yes. And if you're successful, that's who you are. And it's an amazing thing. And money is a scorecard to represent that on how much money you make, how much money you have. But what happens is that our net worth and the money we have starts to become our self-forth. It starts to become who you are from everything. to the point of what you're buying, what you're experiencing, with your friends and your family,

to if you're producing and creating, what's so hard is to separate those two things to say, okay, who am I without all my stuff, without all the success, without all the money? Who does that leave you with? And if you start to feel like, oh my gosh, well, if I'm not producing and creating value all the time, then I feel like I'm worthless. Like, am I still valuable? Am I good? And so money can start to creep in and mess with our ideas.

identity, and I don't want you to do that. I want you to be able to separate your money from who you are, because the truth is, it could be taken away. Like, what if it's all gone? What are you left with? So here are some ways to combat this. Number one, see money as a tool for taking care of yourself and others. That's what it is. It's not a measuring stick. It's not who you are. See money as this amoral thing that's out here. It's not good or bad, but use it as a tool for your life. Also practice contentment. Contentment is going to bring such peace. I wrote the contentment journal. I'll put a link down below. But it really walks you through this process of practicing contentment because you have to do that. And on a daily basis, if you can, because

this world around us will suck out this idea of like, you can't be happy unless you're doing this or this or this or have this. Contentment will bring peace. And then also make sure that your identity isn't in something that can be taken away. And so whether it's money in the bank, a job title, like whatever is going on in your life, if something can be taken away, don't put your identity in that. Another place in your life that money might be ruining is your relationship with others. You know, it can get to this point that if you start to win with money and you get more of it, some people start to gravitate towards people in their same income range. And then you end up, possibly without even realizing it, living in a padded world where you see no need of anyone else.

You see no struggle because everyone just pays and figures out how to keep this appearance up. And you start to become out of touch. And in a sense, you can start to lack empathy and compassion for others. Now, also, if you see that you're enabling people's bad behavior with money, that's a place where it can ruin their relationship as well. Also, maybe you feel like, oh, I don't want to talk to my kids about money because, like, maybe we've done well, but I don't even know how to talk about it or how to show them. So I'm going to just avoid it.

Or maybe you look up in your inner circle of people or full of yes people who are just there to like, yeah, everything's great. Everything's fine. You're great, great, great, great, great. you're doing everything great. And now we want encouraging people in our lives. But also, you want some of those friends that, like, will tell you the real. Maybe you're feeling guilty about making more money than your friends.

So you start to avoid those relationships. Maybe you and your spouse lack unity. And so you start to disagree more and more as you guys continue to make more money and build more wealth. So money can get into the cracks of our relationships and start to ruin them if we're not careful. Now, if that list hits home for you and you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm starting to to spiral. There are really three easy ways to combat the cycle. But first, combat the threat of internet harassment and scams with Delete Me. If you don't remove your personal data from the

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are way too important to leave exposed. So sign up for DeleteMe and take control. Go to join DeleteMe.com slash Rachel for 20% off, bringing your monthly costs to under $9. Or you can click the link down in the description. Now again, if you see that money is starting to ruin some of your relationships, a couple of things to keep in mind. Number one is to look up and out, meaning don't create a life where it's all about you all the time.

Like when you actually look for the opportunities to help and serve other people, that is going to give you a level of humility and grace for others. And actually that starts to change who you are as a person. And then in turn starts to affect your relationships in a really positive way. Number two is to build a life that you love with your loved ones. Like look around and just be like, okay, what are things that I want to use money as to help? enhance, not take away from these relationships. And then also make sure you're setting your kids up for success. So that's a relationship that's really important if you are a parent and if you are winning with money. Of course, no one wants to raise entitled brats. Like right, nobody wants to do that. We don't go out

looking for that. But if we're not intentional, that can actually start to creep in. And so creating an environment where they have to work, they have to have some level of grit, some level of sacrifice, doing things they don't want to do. Like, every kid does that, right? But actually saying, yeah, you still have to follow through. Like, there's things in life we don't want to do, but you've got to do it. And you've got to learn how to do that because that's going to give them the capacity for real life. And that's what we're trying to do, set them up for real life.

And that also gives them dignity in themselves to know that they can do something. I was hearing some parenting expert on Instagram the other day. They're like, honestly, chores. Like, yeah, connection between work and money, like, all that's great. But what it does for their self-confidence and their self-esteem when they actually can show that they are adding value to the household does wonders for kids, even little kids. So start doing that. So don't let that relationship with your kids at all have any level of strain or cracks because of money. Let money enhance your family life, not take away from it.

And number three is your relationship with God. So having money, I believe, can, can, not always, but it can make it harder for you to see your need for him. Because when things are just so convenient and something happens and you can like pay your way out of it where it's like oh a flat tire well i have money an emergency fund like i can just take care of that or something comes up and you know you need to go to the doctor and you're like oh yeah well our insurance doesn't cover all of this but like we have the money to do it and all of that is a good thing right like we teach having an emergency fund and teach being responsible and wise with money but there is a point that again it can become this band-aid where you just like life gets fixed and you're not looking above and you're not looking around

saying, God, I want to lean on you more because with money, it can be this pad where you don't need that. And so you want to make sure that your money doesn't replace your view of God because having a higher power in your life, you guys, changes the way you make decisions. It changes your perspective. I believe it creates such peace and reason while you're here, while you're here. So having that is huge. So that relationship with God is so key. And again, with money, we want to enhance that. So how do you enhance it? Well, number one, remember that he is the source, that all good and perfect things, they come from him. Like, he gives us the ability to go and make money. He's the one that's created and put passions and creativity in you when he created

you. Like, all of that comes from him. And there's something beautiful about saying, yes, I have to make smart decisions in my life to get better results in life. Like, absolutely, for sure. Like, we're a part of it. He brings us along, which is beautiful. But, also when you look at the source from the beginning, it's all from him. And then second, remember, blessed are the poor and spirits. There is something to be said about this idea that when you're not carrying all these expectations of people around you, carrying, I think, baggage from your past, carrying this idea that this is who I have to be. And money then starts to be in those cracks of all those things and starts to fill in those voids. That can set up a life

that's like really heavy to carry. And so there is something beautiful about, laying it all down and just saying, okay, God, what do you want me to do with all this? Like, living life with an open hand. And humility helps with that when we said earlier, like serving and giving. Like, that's a step in that right direction. There's something beautiful about just saying, like, I don't have it all figured out. Like, God, like, help me with all of this, right? And just that remembrance daily is so, so important.

Now, remember, it is important to be aware of hidden ways that money can negatively affect you. But if you want to transform your life and your money, you also have to have those good habits. which are very important. So make sure to check out my episode five money habits. I will change your life if you actually do them. And if you're listening on podcasts, I will put a link below. All right, you guys, remember to take control of your money

and create a life you love.