How to Spend Your Last Coin Without Plunging Into Depression

There is something about money and personal well-being. When your financial status is good, you can miss lunch but still feel okay. Your subconscious mind knows that as soon as you need it, you’ll just speak the language of God—let there be, and it will be. 

However, in those seasons when you and finances are traveling on parallel lines, you feel hungry immediately after a bite.

Not sure, where your next meal will come from, the brain sends stress signals everywhere, and you feel hungry after a meal. If you can’t relate, you’re culturally deprived. Such memories are what keeps us in check,  in times of abundance.

So, life’s financial struggles can be overwhelming, especially when you’re down to your last coin. The weight of uncertainty, fear, and self-doubt can lead to deep anxiety, even depression. But even in such moments, there is hope. How you respond to financial hardship—both practically and emotionally—can make a significant difference in your well-being.

This article will explore practical tips that can help you stay buoyant even as you spend your last coin.

We’ll cover:

1. Recognize That Money Isn’t Your Source of Worth
2. Spend It on Essentials, Not Despair
3. Seek Help Without Shame
4. Find Strength in Faith in God
5. Live One Day at a Time
6. Take the Next Step in Faith
7. Final Thoughts

Let’s start by putting clarity on our source of worth.

Recognize That Money Isn’t Your Source of Worth

One of the biggest mistakes people make is tying their self-worth to their financial situation. If your value is tied to money, what are you when broke? Money or any recognized means of exchange is important, but without it, we still have value.  

If you make the mistake of defining yourself with money or wealth, there is no way you’ll divest yourself of your poverty. Learn to separate who you are from your financial situation, whether stable or disturbed. 

Jesus said in Luke 12:15 (NKJV),
“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Even when you’re financially struggling, you still have value. Your identity isn’t in your bank account—it’s in who you are as a person and, ultimately, in God’s love for you.

Spend It on Essentials, Not Despair

A joke has been trending on the internet that if the money you have cannot help you, eat it. What about when you have just eaten? 

Deciding how to spend your last coin is crucial. It may be the last coin, yet it may prove an opening wedge to a host of opportunities if handled well. 

Here are a few wise options where you can wisely spend your last dime:

• Food: Yes eat that money. Choose something nourishing that can sustain you. Get some energy to think and strategize if need be.
• Invest:  O yes, you got this right too. I don’t mean investing in Money Market Funds (MMF) or Treasury Bills. That could be overambitious. What I mean has to do with using it to create an opportunity—maybe a phone call for a job lead, transportation to a place where you can seek help or materials for a small income-generating idea.
• Philanthropy: And I am serious about it. You can sow a seed of kindness. Have you realized that sometimes, even when struggling, giving to someone in greater need can bring a sense of purpose? The widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17 used her last bit of flour to feed the prophet Elijah, and God provided for her abundantly. You never know what a little act of kindness can do to you. 

Seek Help Without Shame

From whom? From people around you. You too can seek help. Don’t be ashamed of your suffering. If you are broke, there’s no different way to say it. Avoid those euphemisms of, “there’s a deal I’m waiting for.” Just seek help and be plain about it. 

Many people suffer in silence due to pride. Being in need is not a failure. Instead, living in denial is.

Even Jesus encouraged asking for help. In Matthew 7:7 (NKJV), He said:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

A good balance would be to choose well where you ask for help. It is not safe for a drawing man to knock on Mr. Crocodile’s door. 

And apart from choosing well, who to seek help from, also avoid the temptation to exhaust one source. If you keep relying on a single friend, for instance, you will push them to donor fatigue. Diversify your sources. Only God has a cistern that never runs dry, so be discreet and learn the ancient wisdom of Solomon:

"Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house;
otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you" (Proverbs 25:17, CSB).

Reach out to trusted friends, family, church members, or good neighbors. And remember that you are not a failure for needing support—you are human. Being human means we are not omnipotent and will always need to be complemented by others.  

Find Strength in Faith in God

If there is a time when your faith should rest on evidence and not demonstration, it is when you are down to your last dime. Yes, God is still good even when the path of righteousness leads through the desert or the valley of the shadow of death. 

Depression often stems from dwelling on what’s lost. Instead, focus on what remains. You still have a caring God that you can talk to. Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) reminds us:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Instead of worrying, trust God:

“Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.” — The Desire of Ages, p. 330

Live One Day at a Time

Sometimes we get depressed by borrowing the burdens of the future.  Saving for the future is okay, but there is no virtue in crowding today with the burdens of tomorrow. 

Christ instituted the principle of living one day at a time:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34, NKJV)

Another relevant passage is from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing:

“If you have given yourself to God, to do His work, you have no need to be anxious for tomorrow. He whose servant you are knows the end from the beginning. The cause is His; He will not lay upon you more than you can bear. In His strength you can do the work He requires of you.… The faithful discharge of today’s duties is the best preparation for tomorrow’s trials. Do not gather together all tomorrow’s liabilities and cares and add them to the burden of today. ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.’ Matthew 6:34.“— Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 100

Take the Next Step in Faith

Even if you don’t know what to do, at long last you must take the next step. Take it by faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Live by this faith. Faith will keep you going. 

Your last coin isn’t the end of your story. Many biblical figures faced extreme want—yet God provided:

• Elijah was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:6).
• The widow’s oil multiplied when she had nothing left (2 Kings 4:1-7).
• Jesus fed thousands with a little boy’s lunch (John 6:1-14).

Trust that this moment of lack is temporary. Take a step forward in faith, even if it’s just praying for guidance, applying for a job, or asking for help.

Final Thoughts

Being down to your last coin can feel hopeless, but it doesn’t have to lead to despair. Remember:

• Your worth isn’t tied to your finances.
• Spend wisely on essentials or opportunities.
• Seek help when needed—without shame.
• Cultivate gratitude and trust in God.
• Take the next step forward in faith.

Your current hardship is just a chapter, not the whole story. Stay hopeful, keep moving, and trust that better days are ahead. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5, NKJV).