Shopping for Financial Balance: The Art of Mindful Spending

Achieving and maintaining financial balance is increasingly challenging in a world saturated with media designed to influence constant spending. Media, and most especially social media, are designed to sell us something through inescapable advertising and through the romanticization of aspirational lifestyles. The accessibility of purchasing has also never been easier: the “mall” is now a folder of apps on your phone, ready to facilitate the instant transaction.

Influence is Everywhere

Advertising and marketing are so deeply embedded in our daily lives it’s often difficult to determine if something is authentic, product placement, or a paid partnership. When Taylor Swift announced her engagement on Instagram, the post received more than 37 million likes. The dress featured in the post triggered an intense widespread reaction that resulted in the over $300 dress quickly selling out everywhere. While Taylor Swift did not have a partnership with the brand, companies are taking notice of how demand for products can increase with strong social buzz, brand ambassadors, product placements and partnerships.

Platforms such as Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord all encourage their content creators to build community and then leverage that authentic engagement for partnerships and interactive sales campaigns. For students, the influence can also be peer-driven. While we might initially seek inspiration in these platforms or from the people around us, it’s easy to get caught up in the act of mimicry. The ease of buying an exact item can devolve our approach from searching for a general idea, to purchasing the exact item to feel included or current.

The Impulse

Spending and over-spending are very often driven by emotions and may not follow economic logic. Spending impulsively is not something exclusively linked to students or a particular generation. The behaviour is applicable to all generations and people of all ages – the term “retail therapy” was coined in the 1980s by journalist Mary T. Schmich[i].

According to Interac, Canadians are increasingly making “feel-good purchases, defined as non-essential spending that boosts their mood, to access an array of positive feelings including satisfaction, confidence and pride during difficult times, according to the results of a national Interac behavioural science study released today [Updated March 2025]”.[ii]

While treating yourself occasionally can be fine for your budget, spending without considering the underlying motivation can result in an unbalanced budget and unsustainable lifestyle. The lure to purchase something above our budget is showing through luxury item profits. According to GlobalData, “a not-insignificant portion of luxury profit comes from middle- and low-income consumers. Americans with a household income of less than $50,000 make up about 27 percent of regular luxury consumers. That’s almost as big a group as luxury consumers with an income of $150,000 or more.”[iii]

Financial Balance is an Art

Financial literacy and personal financial balance are not fixed skills, but a continuous, adaptive practice that should evolve as your finances change, as the economic environment shifts, and as your needs and wants develop.

Maintaining financial balance is a series of decision-making. These decisions are especially challenging when faced with the strong desire for things we want, but the practice of thoughtful spending is fundamental to finding a balance. Getting too comfortable with spending in a way that is incompatible to your budget, or doesn’t really make sense for your lifestyle, is a slippery slope

Financial balance is not about spending too much one month and then depriving yourself the next month. It’s about finding balance to ensure that you’re not overindulging and then feeling scarcity in your wants and needs.

The goal is thoughtful consumerism that aligns with your current budget.

Food for Thought: Asking Yourself the Right Questions

We are capable of admiring something, appreciating it, and being impacted by something in a meaningful way without needing to own it.

When considering a non-essential purchase, consider taking a moment to ask yourself one or all these questions:

Does this fit into my current lifestyle?
Does this fit my budget?
Is this an inspired purchase, or is this mimicking something/someone I saw?
Does this item need to be owned to get value from it?
Why do I want this?
What is the underlying motivation to purchase this? (e.g., stress, boredom, necessity?)
Does this purchase need to be made now, or can it wait for a different day or mood?

Sources

[i] Tribune, Chicago. 1986. “A STOPWATCH ON SHOPPING – Chicago Tribune.” Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. December 24, 1986. ..
[ii] “Feel-Good Phenomenon: Spending and Emotions Collide.” 2025. Interac. May 30, 2025. ..
[iii] Kim, Whizy. 2023. “Dior, Tiffany, Le Creuset: Why We’re Buying Luxury Goods like Crazy | Vox.” Vox. Vox. May 23, 2023..