Aligning Your Spending With Your Personal Values

All of us have dreams, aspirations, hopes and desires and things we want to do. The life we daydream of, the things that motivate us and seems like the best thing ever. All of us, however, have limitations and barriers. Challenges, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, whether they be in our own hands or whether they’re a twist of fate. It can be hard to resign ourselves to living a certain way because we do not have the means to break out of that mold and live like the image that we have created of ourselves. It is, unfortunately, one of the worse parts of being an adult. Of having to accept that we don’t always get what we want and having to compromise on those things. It doesn’t have to be very hard, though, as there are always ways of doing what you want but without the same cost.

It is not a very easy task to look for alternative paths to your goals because the main path as is is littered with obstacles. It is up to us to decide how much we actually want It, and how much you are willing to work for it. The long path is hard and winding but it ends up being the most satisfying at times. The road less taken is the one with the most distance but with the least ditches.

When it comes to clothes, most of us want the best and the most trendy clothes, from the most expensive and designer labels. Most of us are also not billionaires, unfortunately. Maybe someday but for now we must put our heads together and work towards saving money. Saving is the obvious choice, but is it really the wisest decision to spend that money on something that can be construed as frivolous? At what is, at the end of the day, just a logo? It depends from person to person, as buying designer clothing is something that a lot of us aspire to, and it is by no means something that should be trivialised as we all have different desires and it does not bode well to speak ill of other people’s dreams. However, we must all realise that our identity is in no way the clothes that we wear, or the brands that we buy. We must not base our identity on that.

All of us have different priorities. We all of us have different objectives as well. We must connect the two if we want to be happy. However all of them will involve money to some degree. It is up to us how we spend for, and save for these objectives. One way of saving up is to subsidise our passions by sacrificing in other areas. For example, to make your shopping budget you’ll have to cut down on spending on other things like eating out or going out with friends. This will all add up to massive differences in the budgets that you make. Think of what you think is most important. Is it to have a big house? Better clothes? Better food? Figure out what it is that you are willing to compromise the most on, in order to be happiest by spending what you want on that which makes you happiest.