Honoring a Life Lost to Financial Shame
Posted by Coaching with Grace | April 28, 2025
TW: suicide
This week carries a heaviness for me that I want to share with you. Not to grieve publicly, but because her story deserves to be told, and because I believe it might save someone reading this right now.
Three years ago on April 28th, I lost a dear friend. She was bright, capable, and full of life, but behind closed doors, she was drowning in financial shame. The kind that whispers that you are your debt, that you are your struggle, that you are somehow less than the polished images you scroll past every single day. She carried that weight silently, alone, until she couldn’t carry it anymore.
She took her own life.
I will never stop believing that if she had known she wasn’t alone, that millions of people were walking the same painful road, things might have been different.
Today, in her honor, we are releasing a limited edition t-shirt collection. A portion of every sale will be donated to a suicide prevention organization in her remembrance. These shirts were created in honor of those who feel they have to carry financial shame alone, because no one should ever feel that way. Not for one single day.
The Lie That Social Media Tells Us
Open your phone right now. What do you see? Vacations. New cars. Renovated kitchens. Celebrations. Financial wins. What you don’t see are the credit card bills that funded that vacation, the car payment that is two months behind, the family eating ramen while posting highlights. Social media is a curated gallery of life’s best moments, and when we are struggling, scrolling through it can make us feel like we are the only ones who are failing.
We are not failing. We are human.
Financial hardship does not care about your zip code, your race, your age, your education, or how hard you work. It touches everyone. The single mother working two jobs. The college graduate drowning in student loans. The small business owner whose dream didn’t survive the economy. The retiree whose savings ran out. Money does not discriminate, and neither does the shame that so often comes with it.
What the Silence Is Doing to Our Bodies
Here is what I need you to understand: financial shame is not just an emotional burden. It is a health crisis that we are not talking about enough.
83% of Americans report that the current economic climate has affected their stress levels. That is not a small number. That is most of us.
More than half of Americans feel stressed or anxious about their personal finances at least three days a week. For many, that stress never fully turns off.
And that chronic stress takes a devastating toll on the body. Psychological distress is associated with serious health consequences including emotional exhaustion, reduced immune response, heart disease, and increased mortality. Financial worry doesn’t just keep you up at night. It can literally shorten your life.
People in problem debt are three times more likely to have thought about suicide in the past year. Three times. That is not a coincidence. That is a crisis hiding in plain sight.
And yet, 60% of Americans have avoided seeking mental health care due to financial constraints, meaning the very stress that is harming people is also blocking them from getting help. It is a cycle with no obvious exit. Unless someone reaches a hand in.
You Are Not Your Debt. You Are Not Your Struggle.
My friend believed she was alone in hers. She wasn’t. And neither are you.
Financial shame thrives in isolation and silence. It grows in the dark spaces where we are afraid to say “I’m struggling” because we fear judgment, embarrassment, or being seen as less than. But shame cannot survive being spoken out loud, not when it is met with compassion instead of criticism.
That is the heart of everything we do at Coaching with Grace. Money Clarity. Financial Confidence. No Shame. Those words are not just a tagline. They are a promise. That wherever you are in your financial journey, whatever you owe, whatever mistakes you have made, whatever circumstances brought you here, you are welcome, you are worthy, and you do not have to walk this road alone.
A Small Way to Honor Her
If this post has moved you, consider joining us in her remembrance. Our limited edition collection is available beginning today, April 28th. Wear it as a reminder to ourselves and to everyone who sees it: financial struggle is human; shame has no place here; and we are stronger when we come together.
A portion of every purchase goes directly to suicide prevention. Because she mattered. Because you matter.
And if you or someone you know is struggling, financially, emotionally, or both, please reach out. To us. To a friend. To a professional. You do not have to carry it alone.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (available 24/7)
With love and without shame,
MaryAlice
Coaching with Grace
coachingwithgrace1.com | (775) 235-8101 | coachingwithgrace1@gmail.com
Follow us for the t-shirt release on April 28th:
💜 To her — thank you for teaching me why this work matters.