Get your time back! Free Live Training “Plenty of Time” sign up here.

Your spending is a prayer.

Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 8.52.24 PM

Every time you swipe your card, every time you lay down the bills, every time your coins clink in the machine or you click Checkout, you are making a statement.

We earn money based on the value we’ve provided in the world.

When we’re operating in our highest, the value we provide in the world is a reflection of the truth of who we are.

When we unequivocally know how worthy we are, the value we provide in the world is profound.

And we get paid for it.

The money you have in the bank, in your wallet, or in your pocket is a reflection of the value you’ve offered in the past.

(Note: Do not confuse your net worth with your self worth. They are not the same. You are inherently worthy because you are. That’s it, period.)

Money is a stand-in for what we value. It’s a made-up system for humans to trade value for value.

Every time you spend money you’re voting. (Tweet it!)

You’re saying, “This thing I’m buying is of value. It’s important to me. It matters.”

Let this be a conscious choice.

Let the way you spread your cash, coin, moola, Benjamins, dinero . . . money be a statement.

Our allocation of funds creates change in our lives and in our world.

Let your spending be a prayer for what you love and for what you desire—for yourself, for your family, and for the planet.

Pay attention to where you are wielding the power of the purse.

It matters. You matter.

Pray for what matters to you with your money.

30 comments

  • susan

    yes, i this i believe…,
    any ideas on what can be holding up a large property/estate sale.., other than the economy? not sure what our mind set could be to help. i know there are always lots of people w/ lots of money.., and this is primo property in dallas, tx. it’s been over 3 years, maybe 4. i attempt to get members of the family to keep their toilet seat down[ feng shue stuff] , and to make donations, and be generous in nature.., and i imagine how this prop could be wonderful for someone..,their dream come true. i need a revolutionary idea;-)

    • Nora

      Start calling investors to see if they would be interested in your property. If they are not they might know someone that is. That is what I had to do for a property of mine. Also, change realtors to get more exposure. Ask the realtor how they will market your property and see what ideas they give you. You might be able to elaborate on their ideas.
      There is also a statue that you can bury upside down in the backyard of the property and say a prayer to sell the property. This has worked for many.

  • When I first saw the title of this post, I was really turned off. I’m still struggling with money and spirituality. But after reading the entire post, I think the statement, “Pray for what matters to you with your money,” is actually very profound. These two lines really hit home for me:

    “Our allocation of funds creates change in our lives and in our world. Let your spending be a prayer for what you love and for what you desire—for yourself, for your family, and for the planet.”

    It’s given me a lot to think about, and act on. Thank you, Kate!

  • Yes! Exactly. Money makes the world go round in positive and negative ways. People often complain that politics are all about money. So vote with your dollars! At the grocery store, in your local community and in your schools. Where we spend our money impacts everything. This has helped me make so many personal finance decisions. I spend where I value. And sometimes I need to revaluate what I value. Thanks for the reminder.

  • Kate, I love, love, love this perspective of money. What a beautiful, encouraging post! I strongly believe in the spirituality of all things, yet the way I’ve spent money has been a weakness. All you have to do is look at my stacks of magazines, books, craft supplies, and the way I’ve been slowly paying back debt. In my sixth decade, I believe I’m finally getting it : ) Your post has given me a new way of looking at every cent I spend. Thank you! I’m thrilled to have your new book!!!
    Nancy

  • Janice

    I am still in confusion about prayer and money, spirituality and money – maybe it’s true that people earn what they believe they are worth, but then what is keeping some people from knowing their worth? It’s complicated. In a way it sounds like (and you probably don’t mean this) that God/Goddess/whatever favors the rich.

  • Christina

    I read this post upon sitting down from a trip to the vending machine :( Thanks for the reminder!

  • Love this, Kate! Couldn’t agree more. Being a champion for the underdog, I never understood the money for value thing until I started earning more than I ever had. (I mean, teachers don’t make enough, in my opinion, but look at the value!) I was talking to my investment planner the other day, telling to find me only socially conscious investments for my IRA, and that’s when he warned that I’d earn more dividends with big oil and the like. I told him I’d rather take a smaller return and feel free. Surprisingly, he agreed:) I think I’ll keep him.

  • Yes!!! I love operating from the “voting with your dollar” mentality, but the “spending is your prayer” reframe is even juicier. LOVE IT!

  • WOW! This is so great! I never looked at spending this way before. Kate, you have a different way of looking at money/finances that really makes sense to me. Thank you!

  • Kate this post is beautiful. The lines: ‘Pray for what matters to you with your money’ and ‘Pay attention to where you are wielding the power of the purse.’ has definitely given me new perspective on how I spent my dollars. I would have never seen the connection between money and spirituality in this way but this makes so much sense. Thank you!

  • I loved this post! Thank you, Kate!
    You have such an amazing gift of using words to shift the mindset!
    I shared a few quotes from this post. It’s so powerful!

    Have a great day,
    Galina

  • Nelly

    I just finished reading your book. I still have a few more exercises to finish. This is one lesson that I truly think was important for me to learn. I had an urgency on purchases that I thought I needed because if I didn’t get them now I wouldn’t ever get them. After reading your book I understand why that has been a common theme. I have so many books that I haven’t read and “things” I don’t use because I thought I needed them at the time. Now I know I would rather have black in my checkbook instead of “things” on a shelf. <3

  • cj

    Interesting perspective Kate! My hubby left for a month, just weeks after I returned home (I was away for four years). During that time I prayed with my purse in so many ways to bring a feminine touch back to our home. Intuitively I knew our home needed more, not less, so that the care and beauty could bring back a missing link of balance and nurturing care. When hubby returned he did not make one remark about the amount of money I spent (I have to admit that the credit card bill hasn’t arrived yet) and I honestly can say that our children who are living with us and my husband all seem to be More at Home…..thank-you Kate for your wisdom and giving me words for my actions and prayer.

  • Melissa

    Hi! I love the statements u make regarding what u value in life- health, environment, art whatever it is. I work in a giving job- I work w drug addicted youth. I love my job!!! The pay is shitty! In the area in which we live jobs are limited esp in the field my partner and I are in. We cannot seem to get out of the vicious paycheque to paycheque cycle. A lot of times not even making it paycheque to paycheque. My question is how do change things w a set amount of income and little options to earn more- we both work 40hrs+ a week and have kids….. I have faith! I trust the universe but nothing seems to change! Help!!

    • Kate

      Melissa – I’m so glad you love your job. That’s so awesome. If you’re committed to staying in that line of work, how can you simplify your life to be able to live on less? Can you drive a less expensive car? Can you take public transport? Can you live in a smaller home? If you know you want to stay in your line of work you could also start a “side hustle” – some sort of side business that brings in a few extra hundred dollars to thousands a month. You’d be amazed by how much time you have in the week. I would start by tracking your time and seeing what you’re actually doing with it and then see if you can cut out TV and anything else not really adding value to your life and free up some time to figure out ways you can add value outside of your job and get paid for it. Hope that helps!

  • Dear Kate;

    These post couldn’t have come at a better time. I like to think of myself as a bargain shopper, and in the last few years I have come into more money than I ever had. I always thought I was frugal with my money, but the minute I started making more, I started spending more, and now my spending is out of control. It is a source of anguish, anxiety, and even shame for me. I know I can do better, but I have also been caught up in ” well this is 75% off so I HAVE to get it”. When I read that my spending was a prayer, I realized that I even though I was saying one thing, I was, with my spending, showing something else, and they are not in line. I was buying the things that needed to be bought because I was buying for myself, and telling myself that I deserved these things. How wrong I was. I really enjoyed reading this post, and your spending is a prayer is something that is going to stick with me for a long time.
    Thank you- Jennifer

  • This is an intriguing point. It certainly will effect how I make purchases in the future.

  • Great post, Kate. I received your book from someone as a Christmas gift and I feel shifted by your words and your wisdom. It’s refreshing to pick up a book and find oneself changed by the knowledge that is being imparted rather than feeling like one has just acquired more info and now so what.

  • Kate, you’re brilliant!
    Thanks for pointing out that money is just a made-up system to trade value for value. For so long I felt like money controlled me and held all of my power. But money just is. I mean, it’s just paper, coins, cards, or numbers floating out there in the internet ether, waiting for us to give it meaning.

    Now I understand the importance of recognizing my own self-worth as I share my value with the world. This is so empowering!

    Thank you for reminding me that when I operate from the Truth of who I really am, the value I provide is much more profound. Opening up the space for money to flow in and out abundantly as my exchange with money becomes congruent with my own self-worth.

    This proves that creating a healthy relationship with money is totally an inside job!
    .. I love that.

  • Thank you for the reminder! I read Money, A Love Story and LOVED it. It’s always good to get a little nudge from the universe, though, to remember these excellent points! I love the idea of spending as a prayer. I will remember that next time I am out at the store (or at home on Amazon!).

  • I have taught my daughter, from a very young age, what we plunk down our money for creates a statement of agreement. I agree with your standards. I agree with the way you do business. I agree with your employee practices. I agree with your altruism. I agree to support YOU!i
    Thanks again, Kate, for putting this is your own words and sharing with your world.
    Paula

  • Rachel

    So – I totally agree with the idea that “spending is a prayer” — and that where I spend my money is a vote, or a prayer, for what I support in the world.

    Where I struggle is that — to use myself and my partner’s family as examples —

    I am a teacher, and my partner is studying to be a teacher after years of working hourly jobs just so he could support his family (who were refugees to the U.S. after the El Salvadorean civil war).

    I actually earn far less than a public school teacher since I work at a “non-public” special education school (we take some privately funded and some publicly funded kids, all with special needs). I work typically 10 or more (SUPER energetically, mentally, and emotionally intense) hours per day, not including weekend work hours. I also frequently work on breaks and over the summer, usually getting paid nothing for those hours. I guess I just don’t believe that what I contribute to the world is “of less value” than an investment banker, who may make an exponential amount more than myself. I do not believe that my hours of work with and for special needs students is worth less than that.

    My partner, as a child of a genocide, HAD to work an hourly job after high school to support his family — with an alcoholic/unemployed father and 5 younger siblings. He couldn’t go to school right away. Now he is going through school to become a physics teacher, and has been working and going to school full time for years.

    So, I guess I agree with the “spending is a prayer” part, but don’t know what to make of, or how I can jive with, the part about “what is in your bank account reflects the value of what you have given the world thus far”.

    Do you have any thoughts or clarifications?

    • Rachel

      I also read your reply to Melissa above, and agree that cutting out unnecessary costs is important. I bike to work, don’t have a TV, etc… and have enough to live on plus some to save… though I don’t have kids yet.

      There are many things I agree on with your work (the spiritual side to everything, including money)… I just feel like it is more complicated than just “what we have financially reflects the value we bring to the world”.

      I think there is a whole system that already brings more power to some people over others, and this often has no (or, even a negative – due to some harmful laws and ways the world has worked thus far — which I am actively working to shift every day as much as I can, through my actions!) correlation with the “value” we bring to the world and those around us.

    • Kate Northrup

      Hey Rachel – wonderful points and great question. It’s true – the world is far more complicated than simply saying what we earn is in direct correlation with the value we bring. I don’t mean to say what we have in our bank accounts is solely a reflection of the value we bring to the world. I know plenty of people who don’t earn much (or nothing at all) who are adding tremendous value to the world. There are indeed systems in place over which we have no control that keep certain groups of people in positions of less privilege. And I agree that teachers should earn more money for sure! However, the general framework of looking at money as a reflection of what we (and others value) helps simplify an inherently overwhelming system. Right now, for example, our culture seems to value investment banking over teaching our children. It’s not what I value, but it seems to be where the culture is. So, the only way we can change this is to vote with our dollars and our energy. This is why our spending (and our words and actions) are a prayer. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for a great point of discussion!

  • Rachel

    (thank you for considering my questions/comments!!)

Leave a Comment

Site Design Studio DBJ
Site Development Alchemy + Aim