Developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™ · Chief Financial Wellness Advisor, Beyond Finance

Is survival mode quietly
running your finances?

Take the free Survival Mode Money Response Quiz — developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, CFT™ as part of the Financial Wellness RESET™ Curriculum.

About 3 minutes · No email required · Results delivered immediately

What is a survival mode money response?

A survival mode money response is any financial behavior — spending, avoiding, over-giving, controlling, or numbing — driven by a dysregulated nervous system rather than a conscious choice.

It’s not a discipline problem. It’s not a character flaw. It’s a pattern your body learned somewhere along the way as a way to cope with financial threat.

If you’ve ever wondered why you avoid your banking app for weeks at a time, impulse-buy after a hard day, freeze when financial decisions get hard, give money you don’t have when someone asks, or find yourself gripping every dollar with unrelenting anxiety — there’s a psychological reason. And it isn’t about being bad with money.

There are five patterns. Most people have one or two dominant ones. And until you can name yours, it runs you automatically.

This quiz takes about three minutes. It will identify which patterns are most active in your financial life — and what to do about them.

What the quiz measures

The Survival Mode Money Response Quiz measures five distinct financial stress patterns across 25 statements.

Each pattern corresponds to a different way a dysregulated nervous system responds to financial threat:

Pattern A

Flight

Avoidance · Deferral · Disengagement

When money feels threatening, your nervous system pulls you away. Unopened mail. Unchecked balances. Changed subjects. The instinct to put it off one more day.

A kite with a broken string, flying away.

Pattern B

Fight

Control · Vigilance · Self-Criticism

The grip on the spreadsheet. The harshness with yourself or others. Your nervous system trying to outrun threat through control.

A volcano beginning to rumble and smoke.

Pattern C

Freeze

Numbness · Paralysis · Disconnection

The brain that goes blank. Time that disappears. A strange sense that your finances belong to someone else.

Pattern D

Fawn

Over-Giving · Accommodation · Saying Yes

Saying yes when you mean no. Sending money you don’t have. Caretaking at your own expense.

A doormat with footprints crossing over it.

Pattern E

Relief-Seeking

Impulse · Emotional Purchasing · Numbing

The late-night purchase. The cart full of things you barely remember adding. The brief hit of dopamine that lasts exactly as long as the package takes to arrive.

Your results will include a score for each pattern and a total score indicating your overall level of financial nervous system activation — along with specific, actionable guidance matched to what you find.

Why this quiz is different

The Survival Mode Money Response Quiz was developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™ — Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance and creator of the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework. Dr. Rasure is one of the few people in the country to hold a doctorate in Personal Financial Planning and the designation of Certified Financial Therapist™.

This quiz is not a personality test or a generic financial assessment. It is rooted within a five-pillar framework that integrates financial therapy research, behavioral economics, and somatic psychology to offer you insight on your relationship with money.

Find out which patterns are most active in your financial life

25 questions · 5 patterns · One clear picture of what your nervous system has been doing with money.

The content, assessments, and curricula provided on this platform are intended solely for general informational and educational purposes. Any assessments, quizzes, scoring tools, and structured curricula are designed as self-reflection tools only and do not constitute a clinical evaluation, diagnosis, or personalized financial plan. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice, or as a substitute for the personalized guidance of a licensed financial professional.

Your progress

0 / 25

How to score yourself

For each statement, choose the number that most honestly reflects your behavior over the past few months.

Never

or almost never

Occasionally

once a month or less

Sometimes

a few times a month

Often

weekly or more

Almost always

consistently

Answer for your real life, not your aspirational one. The version of you that exists right now, not the one you’re working toward.

If you find yourself reaching for the answer that sounds better rather than the answer that’s true, pause. Take a breath. Then answer honestly. That’s the only version this quiz can help.

When you’re ready, begin

Section A · Flight

Flight — Avoidance

When money feels threatening, your nervous system pulls you away.

I avoid opening my banking app or financial statements.

I let mail pile up unopened, especially financial mail.

I change the subject or shut down when money comes up in conversation.

I “deal with it later” repeatedly, even when later never comes.

I avoid setting up the financial organizational systems I know I need.

Flight subtotal 0 / 20

Section B · Fight

Fight — Control & Aggression

The grip on the spreadsheet. The harshness with yourself or others.

I become defensive or angry when someone asks about my spending.

I get harsh with myself internally about every “bad” purchase.

I obsessively track or recheck balances multiple times a day.

I get into financial conflicts with my partner, family, or friends.

I feel righteous superiority about my financial habits — or shame and rage about others’.

Fight subtotal 0 / 20

Section C · Freeze

Freeze — Numbness

The brain that goes blank. Time that disappears. Disconnection from your own financial life.

I stare at financial documents and feel my brain go blank.

I lose time when trying to deal with money — minutes or hours disappear.

I feel a heavy, leaden sensation in my body when I think about my finances.

I know what I “should” do financially but can’t make myself do it.

I feel disconnected from my own financial life, like it belongs to someone else.

Freeze subtotal 0 / 20

Section D · Fawn

Fawn — Over-giving

Saying yes when you mean no. Sending money you don’t have. Caretaking at your own expense.

I lend or give money I don’t have when family or friends ask.

I cover bills, dinners, or expenses to avoid feeling like a burden.

I struggle to say no to financial requests, even from people who don’t reciprocate.

I feel guilty when I have more money than someone close to me.

I prioritize others’ financial comfort over my own financial security.

Fawn subtotal 0 / 20

Section E · Relief-Seeking

Relief-Seeking — Impulse

The late-night purchase. The cart full of things you barely remember adding.

I buy things when I’m stressed, anxious, or sad to feel better.

I shop online late at night or during emotionally hard moments.

I purchase things and barely remember doing it the next day.

I feel a brief high when I buy something, followed by guilt or regret.

I shop to celebrate, console, distract, or numb — more than I shop because I need something.

Relief-Seeking subtotal 0 / 20

Your Survival Mode Money Response Profile

Hold this with curiosity, not judgment. This is information — not a verdict.

Your dominant pattern

—

Your secondary pattern

—

Your total score

out of 100

Note: the higher your score, the more activated your survival mode money responses are.

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📚 If you’re coming from the curriculum, simply close this tab to return to where you were.

Your starting point is clear. Here’s where the work happens.

The Financial Wellness RESET™ Curriculum is the free, proprietary curriculum developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™ that makes saving, budgeting, and paying down debt actually stick — including for people whose nervous systems have learned to experience money as threatening.

Start the Financial Wellness RESET™ Curriculum →

If debt is part of what’s keeping your nervous system activated, you have options.

Debt creates the kind of ongoing financial stress that makes every pattern in this quiz harder to change. If debt is part of the picture, Beyond Finance offers a free consultation to help you understand your debt-free options — no commitment, just clarity.

Explore your debt-free options →

Start the curriculum

A five-module self-paced curriculum that moves you from nervous system reactivity through financial identity — free, ungated, developed by Dr. Rasure.

Explore the framework

The clinically-informed five-pillar foundation behind the quiz — Recenter, Examine, Simplify, Empower, Transform — in depth.

Visit the resource hub

Expert guides, tools, and articles for ongoing financial wellness from the Beyond Finance team.

About this quiz

The Survival Mode Money Response Quiz was developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™ — Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance and creator of the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework. It consists of 25 statements across five research-informed patterns, each scored on a five-point scale (0–4). It is designed for self-reflection and educational purposes. It is not a clinical assessment and does not replace professional financial or mental health support.

About the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework

The Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework is a proprietary clinically-informed methodology developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™. It identifies five distinct dimensions of financial wellness — Recenter, Examine, Simplify, Empower, and Transform — and addresses the behavioral, emotional, and identity-level patterns that determine whether financial strategies produce lasting change. Learn more about the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework.

Is survival mode quietlyrunning your finances?