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Before jumping into the newsletter, I have an important announcement!!! I was featured in the Personal Finance for PhDs podcast! You can listen to the interview by clicking the image below!

I am not sure who came up with the term intentional spending, or even when it started gaining popularity. In my own words, intentional spending is a system in which you determine what is important to you and what brings value to your life, and prioritize spending towards those people, experiences, places, etc. On the other hand, things that do not serve you, get little to no money allocated to them. For example, human connection is very important to my household, so we prioritize spending towards visiting family, going out with friends, and hosting parties! My household does not really care for cars, thus we have a modest used 2016 sedan and no plans on upgrading anytime soon. It is important to mention that if you are in survival mode, intentional spending is not something you might find relatable, and that is okay. Working on the basis of feeling secure, or fulfilling all your needs is a priority to intentional spending. 

I first came across the intentional spending concept while listening to the ChooseFi podcast.  The hosts were discussing Ramitt’s Seitthy’s quote: “Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.” This ideology definitely resonated with the values of my household. Even on the podcast I linked at the beginning of the newsletter, I mention Rammitt’s quote!

I did an analysis of the flexible expenses we had for the first 6 months of 2024. We define inflexible expenses like our mortgage and utilities. On the other hand, flexible expenses are our wants. We have more “wiggle room” on entertainment and eating out, while other flexible expenses are a bit more rigid, like groceries. We need to eat, but could get the fruit that is in season. You can see in the following graph that my household “walks the talk” with flexible expenses. After the most rigid flexible expense, groceries, we spent the most on hosting a gigantic party with our friends, Zuko our dog, and traveling with friends and family!

Figure 1: Carolina’s household flexible expenses for January - June 2024. Our expense analysis show that we spent the most on experiences with our friends, family, and our dog

Figure 2: Zuko enjoying the sun. He found the ball while at the park, of course he loved it more than any toy I have bought him. Will I stop buying toys for this ungrateful dog child? Absolutely not.

By yourself!

I think mindful spending is a great tool for everyone trying to have a better relationship with their finances. If you want to check out some other articles on how to practice mindful spending like from calm.com, ellevest.com or from the university of Utah

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