poor sleep

Updated on

January 4, 2026

Before I changed my financial life, I suffered from poor sleep. Some nights I’d fall asleep but wake up a few hours later, sweating and with heart palpitations. I made my doctor order countless labs to check if I was in menopause (I wasn’t). Other nights I’d get up to go to the bathroom and then wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I’d set the timer on my audiobook for 15 minutes, and would have to hit snooze on the timer several times before finally falling asleep. I’d be so tired during the day. My memory was fuzzy. I would try to take a nap, but couldn’t fall asleep. Night would come and I’d start the whole process again.

I’d ruminate over and over about money, paying bills, pending foreclosure, whether I should declare bankruptcy. AGAIN. Shame, anxiety and worry all contributed to poor sleep for much of my adult life.

Does any of that sound familiar?

In a Sleep Foundation survey, 77 percent of respondents reported losing sleep due to money worries. Of those who report losing sleep, 43 percent say they worry about being able to pay household bills. (This article was last updated in 2023, so the numbers may be different in 2025.) Many of us are facing financial uncertainty and sweeping political changes, so money isn’t the only thing keeping us awake.

More Money Means More (and Better!) Sleep

When we think of how more money would make out lives better, we tend to think of things we can buy (a new car or a home) or trips we can take (I want to go to England again!) and being able to pay our mortgage. Money is great to help us pay off debt and save for emergencies.

But while we’re thinking of paying off debt and replacing a car battery, we don’t always think of less obvious expenses that could help us sleep better. I’m talking here of a good mattress, sheets that don’t itch or a good pillow. A home in a quiet neighborhood. Access to health care (to help find out why we’re not sleeping well!). I have a friend who spends at least $125 weekly on massages. The change in how they sleep and live throughout the day has changed since they started doing this.

This is why I say that money can help you sleep better.

Money Can Buy Happiness

In this post, I’m not really talking or touching on mental health issues that cause sleep issues. We all know that having depression or anxiety or any number of challenges can cause problems with sleep. You can’t buy your way out of depression, but if you have access to a stable job with great benefits and financial stability, you’re more likely to be able to spend on the physical things that help you sleep.

But due to circumstances beyond our control, not all of us can have those things. And I refuse to call them luxuries because access to health care is a universal right, not something only the employed and wealthy should be able to access. Capitalism thrives on extracting physical energy from our bodies and our minds. This is why people are penalized for rest. It’s why we call people lazy and tell them they lack motivation.

A quick search online brings up study after study on how race, ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds, and even where we live, influence our sleep. These studies and reports on those studies all include intervention strategies and more research. This article from the Sleep Foundation discusses sleep disparities among certain groups. It lists the following factors:

Shift work. Working late, working graveyard shift
Occupational hazards. This includes workplace discrimination, safety risks
Racial discrimination. Fear, anger, sadness, police brutality. I’ll add ICE raids and deportations to this list
Financial stress.
Unemployment and underemployment
Wage theft
Generational poverty
Pay disparities
Neighborhoods. Noise, pollution, allergens
Acculturation
Unequal access to health care. This can be the cause of undiagnosed health conditions that contribute to poor sleep, such as sleep apnea

Intersectionality

The Sleep Foundation encourages an intersectional approach when considering next steps. (Intersectionality is the intersection, or combination, of all of our identities and how they are connected, and need to all be recognized, such as race, gender, class, ability and sex. Kimberlé Crenshaw, a scholar and civil rights advocate, coined this term.)

Here are examples of intersectional identities that must be considered in health care and when talking about sleep:

A Black disabled woman who lives in a major U.S. city and owns a home
My 92-year-old brown immigrant mother who speaks passable English and is a U.S. citizen
A white disabled male veteran who lives in a rural town and has to drive two hours to the nearest VA facility for care

So far, we can see that there are many factors to consider when helping someone who has insomnia. Typical bedtime routines may not work for certain groups. In a blog post such as this, not every tip is going to work, but hopefully some of the tips can prompt you to come up with your own.

I’ve tried some of these tips and routines, and have probably given up too easily on the ones that are most feasible for me. For context, I’m a 55-year-old single mother who is overweight, has sleep apnea, ADHD and in the past has had a lot of financial difficulties. I’m a caregiver to two people (my 92-year-old mother and disabled sister), and I’ve got two adult sons living at home.

10 Nighttime Routines

Stretch. You can even do this on your bed! Lay down and gently reach for the ceiling or walls with your arms and legs. Do this for 10 minutes to get your body softened up for the night
Give yourself a massage. Have an unscented or favorite scented lotion on your nightstand and massage into your hands, arms, legs and feet. Your hands will grow warm with the action and the touch will soothe
Remove devices (TV, iPad and computer) from your bedroom
Set a timer or alarm as a reminder to put your phone away one hours before bedtime
Read. But not on something with a screen!
Journal. Topics could be gratitude, something sweet or funny that happened, what you want to plant in your garden, something your kid said
Take a warm, not hot, shower
Breathe. Put your hands on your tummy, close your eyes, and breathe out from your tummy and not your rib cage. You shouldn’t feel your chest move. Do this 10 times
Don’t eat three hours before bedtime and don’t snack in bed
Make your bedroom and bed cozy so you begin to look forward to calm and relaxation

12 Weekly Financial To-Dos

Check your bank balances and keep an eye on any automatic withdrawals
Track expenses
Open a high-yield savings account and start saving for an emergency
Write out some goals (new job, making an extra payment on debt) and post the goals where you’ll see them
Call one place a week to reduce a bill (internet, phone, auto insurance)
Unsubscribe from email shopping lists
Delete shopping apps from your phone
Check your IRS withholding to see if you have too much money taken out of your paycheck
List 5 items around your home on Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, NextDoor, OfferUp, eBay or any other place. Connnect your Venmo, Zelle and CashApp (or whatever payment method) to your high-yield savings account
Cancel any memberships you’re not using (gym, club)
Save for a better mattress or get one through an organization or company that provides mattresses for certain demographic groups (seniors, veterans, etc.)
Get a physical/wellness check and talk to your doctor about your sleep. If possible, take someone with you as a second set of ears and as an advocate, especially Black people, POC, women, disabled people and LGBTQ+ folks

How I Sleep These Days

The first night in our new home was the first night in a long time that I slept without waking up. I didn’t quite feel rested, but I didn’t feel anxious. (The not feeling rested was likely due to my undiagnosed sleep apnea.) I’ve always been a person with stress, so it was natural for my body to be like, “What is happening??? She’s sleeping all night!” And not waking up sweaty was a nice change too!

It took about a month for me to realize I was doing a lot better. I put two and two together and came up with an aha moment. My sleep journey continues and will be the subject of a future post!