Mindful Spending: Aligning Your Money with Your Values

Posted by Abbi Scrutchfield on March 20, 2025

What is mindful spending and why is it worth considering? Essentially, mindful spending is recognizing and digging into the “why” of your spending habits. The first step to this is building self-awareness and understanding the motivation behind how you are spending your money. Mindful spending can bring a sense of control in times of uncertainty. It will also aid in building a healthier relationship with money and how you spend it.  

Below are some steps and suggestions to help you begin your journey into mindful spending:  

• Complete a personal values exercise. Mindful spending comes from building awareness of one’s emotions and the values that resonate with those emotions. 

• • Values Exercise Link 

• Be intentional with purchases. Consider multiple factors when buying something such as quality (will it last) and timelessness (will I still like/use it in a year or two). 

• • Create a value-based budget (support causes you champion and cut back on purchases that do not support your values). 

• • Create a 24 or 48-hour rule – waiting a designated amount of time between seeing an item you want to buy and making the purchase. 

• Practice conscious consumption. Researching purchases before buying can have a ‘minimal effort for maximum reward’ effect. 

• • Look for certifications/designations that indicate positive values and ethics such as Certified B Corporations ™, 1% For the Planet, Fairtrade, and Climate Neutral. 

• • Look into supply chain transparency for the brands and businesses you support. The level of transparency a business provides can correlate to the ethics of the company.   

Engaging in any of the above strategies can help improve your relationship with spending money and finances in general. By living your values and aligning spending habits to reflect these values, you can increase your emotional fulfillment of spending as well. March is B Corp month and, as a Certified B Corporation, Cornerstone recommends checking out what local businesses you may have near you that are also B Corps! 

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered investment, tax, or financial advice. Cornerstone does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information presented in this post regarding your individual circumstances. Please review your personal situation with your tax and/or financial advisor.

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