Fiscal Sanity: putting your money where your mouth is

Do you spend according to your values?

For me, this is a hard one--my perceived needs and resources don't always match up to what I know, deep down, is the right way for me to live. Depending on what your stated values are, what your "fiscal sanity" is, I think it's possible to run smack up against real life and have to compromise.

Good thing "all things in moderation" is one of my values.

I've mentioned local food before--eating local is one way that certain values of mine can definitely play out. But around here? Hard to manage, at least with any ease. One farmers market that features local "stuff" runs on a weeknight, one I'm already too busy on. CSAs, frankly, are beyond my budget--and there's the real rub. Sometimes, doing the right thing requires resources we don't really have. Garden? Not possible, at least not right now. One thing I'm looking forward to after I move next month is that I'll be in a place with more light, which means I can at least grow herbs and make my own sprouts.

Commuting to work. I don't think my hometown is the worst example of public transportation, but it might be close. Buses can take hours to commute by, but since I work less than ten miles from where I live, my impact isn't as bad as it could be...but it isn't zero.

Then there's debt, a topic I've definitely brought up before. I want to be debt free so badly I can taste it...but how to manage that is another matter. With the high cost of housing and transportation, and the high cost of eating right, paying for my past experiences (a nicer word than mistakes, don't you think?) is taking much longer than I'd like. Still, except for student loans, it's likely I'll be debt free in a few years. Sooner would be better.

So there's the question of the day: knowing what you know about your life, your values, your style of sanity, how does your financial picture stack up, and how can you improve it?