Sustainability expert Robert Shapiro suggests a useful phrase to help guide your spending behavior: selective materialism. By focusing on high-quality, durable, long-lasting products, you might hit the top of your affordability range. But consider the return on investment.

Paying more for a well-made item means you can use it for years—sometimes decades.

You’ll be able to shop less often and replace fewer goods, keeping more out of the waste stream. For example, “fast” or cheap fashion has a higher cost than you may realize. Consider the low wages and hazardous working conditions garment workers face, and the environmental impact pesticides have on fabric crops. “The environmental impact of cycling through so much clothing is astounding,” Nicodemus says. “We’re now at the point where a pound of rice and beans costs more than a pound of clothing. We pay for it in resource depletion.”