Is it just me, or are the ’90s having a major comeback?
Every time I open social media, there’s another ’90s trend staring back at me.
The clothes. The hair. The little round sunglasses. Mom jeans. ’90s summer. ’90s Christmas. ’90s-inspired everything.
And honestly?
I’m here for it.
I’ll just go ahead and say it: I was never a huge fan of the stark white and gray everything era, anyway.
But I digress.
Because the more I’ve thought about this whole ’90s comeback, the more I’ve wondered if there’s actually something bigger going on here.
Maybe we don’t really want the ’90s back.
Maybe we’re craving what the ’90s represented.
And for me, that word keeps coming up again and again:
Intentional.
I recently wrote about being more intentional with our money, and apparently intentionality has become my word of the month because now I see it everywhere.
And I started wondering:
What if the ’90s comeback is actually a little bit of a reaction to the way we’ve been living?
Think about what made growing up in the ’90s so different.
We didn’t have a tiny computer in our pockets following us around all day.
We didn’t know where everyone was vacationing.
We didn’t know what our neighbors were doing on a random Tuesday afternoon.
We didn’t know what our friends’ kitchens looked like.
We didn’t know what everyone was buying, wearing, renovating, cooking, driving, or doing with their children.
And maybe that was…really nice?
There was no constant scoreboard.
No endless stream of people to compare ourselves to.
No carefully curated glimpse into someone else’s seemingly perfect life.
You just lived your life.
And maybe that’s what people are craving again.
The ’90s Mom Is Alive and Well
This past summer, we had a very chill summer.
Our days were filled with talking in the driveway, playing in the backyard, running through the sprinkler, and generally doing absolutely nothing that would have required a reservation, an app, or a color-coded schedule.
At one point, my child wanted a drink while playing in the sprinkler.
And I basically said:
“There is literally a sprinkler right in front of you. Drink from that.”
And I thought:
Oh my goodness.
I have unlocked the ’90s mom in me.
I’m an ’80s baby who had a very ’90s childhood, and I genuinely loved it.
And now that I have children of my own, I find myself wanting some of that simplicity for them.
Not because everything about the ’90s was better. It absolutely wasn’t.
But because there was something beautiful about having fewer distractions.
Fewer options.
Fewer people watching.
And, frankly, fewer opportunities to compare.
And Then There’s the Money
This is where it all comes back to Married to Finance.
Because intentional living and intentional spending are basically cousins.
If we aren’t careful, we can spend money simply because everyone else appears to be spending money.
The vacation you feel like you need to book even though you don’t really have the money for it.
The luxury SUV when your ten-year-old vehicle is running perfectly well.
The ten different activities for your child because it seems like every other child is doing something every night of the week.
The designer clothes because everyone online seems to be wearing them.
The home renovation because suddenly your perfectly functional kitchen looks “dated.”
And none of those things are inherently bad.
That’s important.
Spending money on nice things isn’t bad.
Taking amazing vacations isn’t bad.
Driving a beautiful car isn’t bad.
Putting your children in activities isn’t bad.
Buying designer clothing isn’t bad.
The question is simply:
Why are you doing it?
Is it because you genuinely value it?
Or because you feel like you’re supposed to?
That little distinction can completely change the way you spend.
My House Is a Perfect Example
Our house was built at the end of the ’90s.
It’s a custom-built French cottage-style home, and it is very much not a cookie-cutter house.
And over the years, I’ve watched home trends come and go.
The beige era.
The stark white era.
The gray era.
The “paint everything white and replace anything with character” era.
And while there are elements of all of those styles that I love, we made a very intentional decision in our own home:
We weren’t going to erase the character of the house just because the internet told us something else was trendy.
Our kitchen cabinets are brown.
Very brown.
And guess what?
I love them.
They make sense with the architecture of our home. They work with the warmer tones throughout the house, and they make the kitchen feel warm and cozy.
And I cannot tell you how many people have complimented those brown cabinets.
At first I would laugh and say, “Oh my gosh, thank you!”
Now I think:
Of course I love them. We made a conscious decision to keep them.
We didn’t choose them because they were trendy.
We chose to keep them because they were ours.
And I think that is the bigger point.
Maybe We’re Tired of Keeping Up
Maybe the ’90s comeback isn’t really about mom jeans or brown cabinets or tiny sunglasses.
Maybe it’s about authenticity.
Maybe people are tired of feeling like they’re constantly supposed to be upgrading something.
Their house.
Their wardrobe.
Their car.
Their vacation.
Their children’s schedules.
Their appearance.
Their entire lives.
Maybe we’re finally realizing that constantly keeping up is exhausting.
And expensive.
There is a financial lesson hiding in that realization.
Because when you stop asking,
“What does everyone else have?”
you can finally start asking,
“What do I actually want?”
And that is a much more powerful question.
Maybe you don’t need the newest SUV.
Maybe your ten-year-old one is great.
Maybe your family doesn’t need a vacation every few months.
Maybe one big trip that you can comfortably afford is enough.
Maybe your child doesn’t need five extracurricular activities.
Maybe one or two things they genuinely love are plenty.
Maybe you don’t need an entirely new wardrobe every season.
Maybe figuring out your own personal style is better than chasing every trend.
Maybe your home doesn’t need to look like everyone else’s.
Maybe it just needs to feel like yours.
So…Are the ’90s Really Coming Back?
I definitely think there’s some marketing behind the ’90s comeback.
Of course there is.
Trends sell things.
But I also think something deeper is happening.
People are craving simplicity.
Parents are thinking more intentionally about their children’s relationship with technology.
Families are looking for slower weekends.
People are rediscovering old-fashioned hobbies, fashion, home styles, and ways of spending time together.
And maybe the appeal isn’t really the decade.
Maybe it’s the feeling.
The feeling of not constantly being watched.
Not constantly comparing.
Not constantly upgrading.
Not constantly trying to prove that we’re doing enough.
Maybe we’re just craving a life that feels a little more…
simple.
Authentic.
Intentional.
And honestly?
I’ll take that kind of ’90s comeback any day.
Because when it comes to our money, our homes, our children, and our time, I don’t think the goal should be to keep up with the Joneses.
I think the goal should be to figure out what actually matters to your family—and spend accordingly.
And if that means drinking from the sprinkler in your backyard?
Well…
Apparently I’m officially a ’90s mom now.
And I’m pretty okay with it.
Until next time…
– M
Running the household with a little CFO energy.
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