How Aligning Your Values with Spending Makes Budgeting Easier

Budgeting has developed quite a negative connotation: it can bring to mind a “diet mentality” because so often, it feels restrictive, overwhelming, or like a constant reminder of what not to spend money on. Diets have never worked for me – trying to not eat sugar, for example, always puts me in a practically sugar-rabid state. But when I focus on simply trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, I naturally eat healthier without feeling so deprived. 

What if the key to budgeting is the same? What if, instead of focusing on limits, we framed budgeting as what we want to do with our money, viewing it as a way to align our money with the things that matter most to us? 

Spending in alignment with values doesn’t just make budgeting easier—it makes it feel more intentional and fulfilling, and makes saying “no” easier. When your money is going toward the things that truly improve your life and to companies you feel good about supporting, budgeting shifts from being about deprivation to being about choice.

Mindset Matters: Spending as a Reflection of Priorities

Spending in alignment with your values requires understanding what truly matters to you. Our financial habits are deeply rooted in psychology and past experiences, so it's important to reflect on the beliefs we hold about money.

Let’s Explore Your Money Values

Figuring out where it’s worth spending your hard-earned money is highly individual, but try this exercise with me. Write down answers to the following questions: 

1. What was my last “big” expenditure that felt worth the money? What about the last one that felt like a waste? 
2. What daily or weekly expenses improve my life? 
3. What recurring spending is more of a habit than something that improves the quality of my life? 

What categories of my budget are the areas I would like most of my money to be spent in? What do I think the top categories are now? (plug for Monarch Money - this is not only a great budgeting app, but it can help you see your spending habits & trends over time. Here’s a link to a free 30-day trial.)

How Aligning Spending with Your Values Makes Budgeting Easier

When your spending aligns with your values, budgeting becomes less about cutting back and more about directing your money toward what truly improves your life. Here’s how:

1. It reduces impulse spending. When you have a clear sense of what matters most, it becomes easier to pause and ask, “Does this purchase align with my priorities?”
2. It makes financial decisions clearer. If travel, financial independence, or creative pursuits are important to you, you’ll naturally prioritize them over things that don’t contribute to those goals.
3. It reduces guilt around spending. Budgeting isn’t about spending nothing—it’s about spending with purpose. When your money is going toward things you deeply value, guilt around spending decreases.
4. It creates a sense of financial empowerment. Rather than feeling controlled by money, you’re using it as a tool to create the life you want.

The Cost of Overconsumption

This might not be helpful for everyone, but it’s helped me decrease my spending to better understand the impact of overconsumption. This earth and the living creatures on it are important to me and being in nature is one of my favorite things to do with my time. Because of shifting my focus to these values over my desire to have new clothing, I’ve significantly reduced my personal spending over the past year. 

Clothing used to be something I spent quite a bit of money on, but have reduced that to under $1,000 over the past 12 months. I went to the mall recently to replace my phone (which is typically something I find worth doing every 3-4 years). I sat and observed the shoppers and environment, realizing that malls have become quite strange to me. They are places designed entirely to encourage spending and acquiring more, even when more often leads to less financial stability and less long-term wealth. Over time, I’ve found myself more distant from that kind of consumerism, not because I don’t enjoy nice things, but because I’ve realized how easy it is to fall into the trap of buying for the sake of buying.

According to Statista, the average American consumer spent nearly an average of $2,041 on apparel (and apparel services) in 2023 (my personal number was closer to $3,800 during 2023). While that spending mostly came from Gen X (born from 1965-1980), younger consumers are being disproportionately influenced by fast fashion trends. Fashion alone is responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (UNCC), and much of what is produced comes from exploitative labor practices. The cycle of overconsumption is financially and ethically costly.

I recently saw images of Ghana’s beaches completely covered in (primarily) clothing waste. These images were shocking to me, and serve as a reminder of the impact overconsumption is having on the planet. I think about the times I’ve donated clothes I only wore a few times and feel regret that I have played a part in this problem.

That’s why I’m working on implementing the habit of asking myself a few questions before making a purchase (back to the values-based spending mindset!):

• Why am I buying this item? Do I need this item, or am I buying it because of a temporary desire? 
• Do I love the item and the way I look (AND feel) in it?
• Sometimes I close my eyes and just feel the clothing. Focusing 100% on how it looks can sometimes lead to purchasing uncomfortable clothing! 
  
• Do I know this company’s environmental & social impact? Do they treat their workers fairly? (I’ll often do a quick search on Good on You to learn more) 
• Does this align with my long-term financial and personal goals?

Being thoughtful about consumption doesn’t mean never spending—it means spending better and ensuring that the money we work so hard for has a purpose. 

Money as a Tool, Not an Obstacle

Money is a tool—it’s meant to help you create a life that aligns with your goals and values. It’s easy to get caught up in casual day-to-day spending, but if it’s getting in the way of what truly matters to you, it may be time to reevaluate and be more intentional about where your money is going.

Aligning your spending with your values isn’t about restriction, it’s about freedom and intentionality. It’s about making sure what you spend is moving you closer to the life you want to live, rather than further away from it.

Sources

James, L. (2022, July 27). Mountains of clothes washed up on Ghana beach show cost of fast fashion. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/fast-fashion-ghana-clothes-waste-b2132399.html​

Statista. (n.d.). Annual apparel expenditure in the United States in 2022, by generation (in billion U.S. dollars). Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1328183/us-annual-apparel-expenditure-generational/

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (n.d.). UN helps fashion industry shift to low carbon. UNFCCC. Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://unfccc.int/news/un-helps-fashion-industry-shift-to-low-carbon