Check Your Financial Values
We spend so much of our time trying to fit our budget into our income that it’s easy to see it all as “needs.” And yes, some of the line items (maybe even most of them) are needs. But let’s take a few minutes to think about the big picture. After all, this is your money that you’re earning to support your life. Let’s make sure it’s actually supporting your financial values!
Grab a copy of your budget, your journal, and a cup of coffee…and make yourself comfortable, because this is going to get real deep, real fast.
9 Steps to Aligning Your Spending Plan to Your Financial Values
1. Don’t look at the budget. Just spend some time thinking about the things in your life that the most important to you. This can be anything—there’s no right or wrong answer. If you took stock of your whole life, what would you say your values are? If you get stuck, think of things that you are grateful for. Make a list in your journal. Go ahead and include as much as you can think of. Anything goes. Fill up the whole page.
Ideas to help you get started: the people who are important to you; how you will make the world better through your career, hobbies, or other activities; your spiritual life; your favorite things to do; your health and security; your favorite fandom; your favorite places; and so on.
2. Now read through your whole list again and look for themes. Did you mention travel in five different ways? Do all your favorite things involve certain friends—and if so, could it be that the friendships are what you like about the things? Group related items together with circles or symbols.
3. Is there anything on the list that is missing from your life? When you close your eyes and picture your best life, what do you have more or less of? Write about it in your journal.
4. Choose the handful of top-tier values from your list and rewrite them on a new page. If your life had a mission statement, which items would be important enough to make it into the statement? (Note: No pressure. It’s okay if this list changes over time, or even suddenly when you remember something important later today.)
5. It’s almost time to look at your budget; we swear this is a personal finance blog post. But this list is where your heart and your dreams are. Your money should support that. Look at how awesome your list is! You deserve it.
6. Go through your budget item by item. How does each line item support your top-tier values? This may involve a little bit of creativity; at first it may be hard to sit with gratitude for your car insurance bill. But perhaps your car insurance bill represents safety and mobility for your family, or perhaps it represents your ability to volunteer at your church, or perhaps it represents a way to get away to the woods for a hike. It can still serve your values indirectly.
7. Is there anything on the list that doesn’t serve your values, though? Unless it’s absolutely vital, maybe it’s time to reallocate that money to something more important to you. You still need to pay your rent, but maybe it’s time to stop paying for the gym membership you hate or the subscription that has become lackluster.
8. Are any of your values under-represented? Today’s challenge: Make a swap. Take money from something in your budget you could live without and allocate it to something that better supports your values. Replace that gym membership with a yoga class with the friend you want to spend more time with.
9. If your budget is really tight and your dream life seems aspirational, remember that your time and energy count toward your budget. Maybe you can’t book an expensive cruise this year, but that doesn’t mean your travel value has to fall by the wayside. Can you go exploring nearer to your home? Pack a picnic and check out a nearby park or neighborhood you’ve never seen. Bonus: invite that friend whose company you value. And thank yourself for following your financial values and buying that car insurance!
