How do you cope with anxiety around money when you grew up poor?

Same background, same lingering fear even after becoming comfortable. Two things helped me. First, financial literacy, understanding my numbers, having a clear budget and knowing exactly where I stood replaced vague dread with control, because the fear feeds on uncertainty. Second, I worked on the emotional side, journaling about my money beliefs and eventually speaking to a therapist, which helped me separate my present reality from my childhood trauma. I learned that no amount of savings would ever feel like enough if I didn't address the root feeling. I still live below my means and always will, but now it's a conscious choice, not blind panic. Be patient with yourself, this mindset took decades to form. And genuinely, seeking professional mental health support for money anxiety is completely valid, it changed things for me.

I grew up in a one-room rental flat and I know this fear intimately. What helped me was first acknowledging that the anxiety came from a real place, it protected me and drove me to work hard, so I stopped hating myself for it. Then I made the fear concrete instead of vague: I built a solid emergency fund of many months of expenses, and having that buffer visible in my account genuinely calmed the worst of the panic. The scarcity feeling never fully disappears but it loosened its grip once I had proof of safety. I also had to consciously allow myself small enjoyments without guilt, which was surprisingly hard. If the anxiety ever gets overwhelming or affects your sleep and mood, please consider talking to a counsellor, it's a legitimate thing to get help for, not weakness.