Budgeting and decluttering: It's all about priorities

12 April 2025

I’ve been helping people declutter excess stuff for 20 years. And for two years, I’ve been helping people take control of their spending with the app YNAB as a YNAB Certified Coach. (Check out my website and blog, Peace of Mind Spending.)

I see a lot of overlap in the work. One thing I’ve noticed is that both decluttering and budgeting are all about priorities.

Before anyone starts decluttering, I encourage them to have a vision for their space and get in touch with why they want to go to the effort to declutter and organize their home. Many people want to entertain, for example. Or just be able to open the door to unexpected visitors. Or they want more ease in their life…being able to get out the door without a mad search for their keys. Knowing what’s important to them helps make it easier to let go of excess.

The same is true of a budgeting: YNAB has coined the term spendfulness.” When you’re living spendfully, you’re spending in alignment with your values and your priorities. If your priority is fun time with your family, for example, it’s perfectly okay to spend money on a Disney vacation, rather than spending it on something else. If you struggle with credit-card debt, knowing that your priority is to get out (and stay out) of debt makes it easier to be more mindful about cutting back on extras until the debt is paid off. (And continue to live spendfully once you’re out of debt.) YNAB helps you see where your money is going and allocate your money according to your priorities.

Not incidentally, in the podcast I co-hosted for five years with Shannon Wilkinson, Getting to Good Enough, we mentioned virtually every week that the key to letting go of perfectionism is to get in touch with what is important to you. It’s a recurring theme in my life.

I’ve been doing this work so long that I feel pretty in touch with my priorities. How about you? Do you know what’s important to you about your home? How about your spending? Do you know where your values and priorities lie when it comes to money?

If you feel you need clarity, spending some time reflecting on your priorities and perhaps discussing them with those who share your life might create a North Star to guide you. It’s a worthwhile exercise!

Tagged with: decluttering, priorities, spending, ynab