While many people have loose anxieties about whether they’ll be able to afford something or if they’ve overspent one month, not everyone’s worries are so severe they end up in hospital.
That was the case for Bryanna McDermott.
The financial expert, copywriter and reformed shopaholic from Melbourne was hospitalised due to her financial anxiety.
This came after she racked up debt that was so severe she couldn’t even afford a cup of coffee without her credit card and was suddenly forced to quit her ‘stable, very well-paid job with no alternative to go to’.
Financial expert, copywriter and reformed shopaholic Bryanna McDermott from Melbourne (pictured with her partner) was hospitalised due to her severe financial anxiety
Bryanna (pictured) said she was very stressed at the time, because she and her partner had just moved across the country for her husband’s job and she had to leave her job
The brains behind Female Fearless Traders said she was very stressed at the time of her breakdown, because she and her partner had just moved across the country for her husband’s job and she found herself having to leave steady work.
‘I would stress about payments, stress about savings, stress about my rent and then put myself down for getting myself into that situation. It was a recipe for disaster,’ Bryanna, 31, told Mamamia.
It didn’t help that she and her partner had just paid for their wedding in cash.
One night, when she was staying in Sydney’s CBD the night before an important client meeting, Bryanna woke at 2am and sat ‘bolt upright’ in bed.
‘I was covered in sweat. Like dripping, as though I had just walked out of the shower,’ she said.
She recalled wiping the sweat off her neck and feeling ‘utterly confused’.
‘I walked over to the bedroom mirror to check my reflection to see if I was having a stroke,’ she told the publication.
After ringing the hotel doctor, Bryanna was swiftly told to call an ambulance because she was having the symptoms of a heart attack.
She soon ended up in the emergency department where she was later told she was having a panic attack.
‘The fact was, this was a physical manifestation of the pressure I had put on myself and the stressful situations I had either ignored or simply tried to fight through, cause anything less is just weak, right?,’ she said.
One night, when she was staying in Sydney’s CBD the night before an important client meeting, Bryanna (pictured) woke at 2am and sat ‘bolt upright’ in bed – she said she was sweating and thought she was having a stroke
Following the sobering incident, Bryanna said she slowly started out trying to understand how money and anxiety can become a ‘vicious cycle’.
The 31-year-old did several things, all of which were designed to stop her and her partner from ever having to worry about cashflow again.
The first thing she did was she learned to relax without spending money and then she incorporated simple things into her life – like implementing a budget and direct debit payments.
Bryanna said she also promised herself that she would never get into a situation where she had to worry about money, and so truly weighed up purchases before making them.
Finally, she said she learned to invest in shares, which has been key to her financial success.
Previously speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Bryanna came clean about her ‘out of control’ spending habits that left her so broke she couldn’t even afford a cup of coffee.
‘I was earning good money, but I had a $1500 credit card, which snowballed into three cards, totalling $35,000 worth of debt,’ Bryanna told Daily Mail Australia.
She said she spent most of that money on ‘fabulous’ annual overseas holidays to the US and Europe, new designer outfits each week, as well as dinners out and cocktails.
‘I was just living a social life to satisfy my desperate need to have all the things that everybody wants on Instagram – but it was well above my means,’ she said.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Bryanna (pictured with her partner) came clean about her ‘out of control’ spending habits that left her so broke she couldn’t afford a cup of coffee
Bryanna said while everyone thought she was living a lavish lifestyle, behind closed doors she was falling desperately deeper into debt.
‘It was that instant gratification, where if I wanted something I didn’t want to work for it or wait for it, I just wanted it now,’ she said.
‘I was obsessed with wanting and needing all the things that everyone else had and I didn’t realise that sometimes you can have all the things in life.’
It wasn’t until she finally hit rock bottom and couldn’t afford to pay for her everyday expenses, that she realised something had to give.
It got to the point where I couldn’t even buy a $4 cup of coffee with cash, it had to be on credit
‘It got to the point where I couldn’t even buy a $4 cup of coffee with cash, it had to be on credit,’ she said.
‘I realised if I kept going that way I would’ve ended up bankrupt.’
Determined not to become another millennial with a bad credit rating at age 24, she decided then and there to get on top of her finances by cutting up all of her cards.
‘It started with changing my attitude towards trying to keep up with people on social media, and learning how to invest while putting myself on a “debt diet”,’ she said.
‘If I couldn’t afford something then I didn’t buy it, I unsubscribed to every clothing and marketing newsletter, and I deleted Facebook and Instagram off my phone.’
She divided her cash into four main groups: 60 per cent on expenses, 20 per cent on long-term savings, 10 per cent on everyday savings, and 10 per cent on herself.
While the decision to chop up her credit cards was a difficult one, it paid off in the long run, and within three years Bryanna had repaid all of her loans.
Now completely debt free, the 31-year-old said she’s thankful for being able to get on top of her finances, but adds, she doesn’t have any regrets.
‘While I don’t think you should have regrets in life, I think it’s important to be educated about money, it’s not such a big scary thing,’ she said.