Money isn’t just about numbers. It’s about how it touches every part of your life. The stress in your shoulders when a bill comes due. The pride when you hit a savings goal. The way money shows up in your relationships and your decisions every single day.

That’s why real financial wellness has to be holistic. It’s not just about cutting costs or building a budget. It’s about understanding how money impacts your body, mind, and relationships, and learning to create habits that support all three.

The biopsychosocial model of money

In psychology, there’s a framework called the biopsychosocial model. It’s a big word, but it simply means: to understand your well-being, you need to look at three things together.

• Biological – Money stress doesn’t just stay in your head. It shows up in your body. Through your sleep, your energy, your appetite.
• Psychological – Your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions around money shape how you spend, save, and feel.
• Social – Money is never just individual. It impacts your relationships, your sense of belonging, and how you engage with your community.
  When you put these pieces together, you can see money in a new light: not just as transactions, but as something that weaves through every layer of our lives.

Taking the next step

Holistic wellness doesn’t mean overhauling everything at once. It’s about noticing where you are right now and choosing one small, supportive step that feels doable. For some people, that step might be writing down the moments money feels most stressful, just to bring more awareness to their patterns. For others, it might mean having a gentle conversation with a partner about financial goals, or finally setting aside five minutes to check in on their accounts.

One way to keep things simple is to give your money decisions a quick BFF check:

• Body – How does this choice feel physically? Will it ease stress or create tension?
• Feelings – What emotions come up? Relief, guilt, excitement, fear? Naming them gives you power over them.
• Friends and Family – How does this decision ripple out into your relationships or community? Does it bring connection, or create conflict?

The BFF check is more than a cute acronym. Psychologically, it interrupts automatic patterns and gives your brain a pause. Most of us make money decisions on autopilot, driven by old beliefs, advertising, or stress. Stopping to check in with your body, emotions, and relationships engages a different part of the brain — the reflective part — so you’re not just reacting, you’re choosing.

This matters because so much of financial stress isn’t about the dollar amount, but about the stories and feelings we attach to it. A small purchase can spiral into shame. A financial setback can feel like a personal failure. The BFF check helps separate fact from feeling, giving you a way to respond with clarity instead of judgment.

Maybe that means saying no to something that drains you. Maybe it means saying yes to something that brings joy and connection. Either way, you’ve made a decision that supports your whole self. Not just your bank balance.

What matters most is that your money choices begin to feel connected to who you are and what you need. Maybe that means finding tools that make saving automatic so you don’t have to think about it every day. Maybe it means setting boundaries in relationships where money feels tense. Or maybe it just means giving yourself credit for the progress you’ve already made.