We work hard. We deserve nice things. We want to be able to finally afford the designer bag. And be a part of the group that can afford designer bags. Show with pride what we achieved. But what starts as a well-earned treat often turns into a trap. This is lifestyle creep — where our spending quietly expands with our income, leaving us stuck on a treadmill instead of building real freedom.

Let’s break this down.

The Hidden Problem

We’re taught that self-care is bubble baths, candles, maybe yoga on a good day. Or taking ourselves out to go shopping for shoes. Remember Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City when she realizes that she spent 40,000 US dollars on shoes? 100 pairs à 400 USD each. You can literally see the coin drop when she does the math in her head.

Money gets its value not from what it is made of, but from the trust people place in it and the systems that uphold that trust. Whether it's gold coins or paper bills, value is ultimately a social agreement backed by institutional credibility, scarcity, and utility.

That anxiety isn’t about money.  

It’s about meaning. And if you’re human, you probably attach a lot of meaning to money and the number on your bank account.

Most people have this one corner in their “life garden” they don’t touch. And more often than not, that corner is money.

We avoid it. Outsource it. Tell ourselves we’re “not good with it.”
Or that we’ll get to it later.
Or that it’s just not who we are.

But here’s the thing: the part of your life you avoid the most?
That’s usually the one that’s most ready to grow.

Money can feel like a big, unsolvable mystery.

It’s everywhere. It’s flowing or stuck. We love it, hate it, chase it, fear it. We say it doesn’t matter, but then why does it shape so much of our lives?

Most of us never really got a chance to understand money. Like truly understand it. Inflation, interest rates, housing bubbles, what the Fed or the European Central Bank are doing, Bitcoin, recessions - what does any of that mean, really? And how does it affect your day-to-day life? Honestly… most of us are just nodding along in confusion.

When talking about “crypto,” people often get lost in the technology and its complexities, the various use cases, and the potential for mass adoption. While all of that is super exciting, it's not what makes cryptocurrencies so relevant.

Financial stages explained, absolute must-knows and absolute no-gos. Like it or not, money matters. All the more if you would like to quit your job and follow a completely different career path, move abroad, start “digital nomading” or just take a few months off to figure things out. If you’re planning a big life change, it is super important to know where you’re at financially.

Why you are not rich, who to blame and how to change the story in your head. So why are you not rich? Feeling offended? Great. There is not a single person on this planet who is entirely indifferent towards money.