I’m still a student I’ll pay back my debt later. As long as I’m under 32k in debt, i’m already doing better than average for people my age.
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I budget my purchases and stick to it, slow and steady.
Justifying it to myself is easy
Justifying it to my wife on the other hand…
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Only spend money I can afford to waste and only buy at prices I perceive to be good value. And there is always value to be had
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I know the cost of my priorities. I could provide my own personal example if you’d like, but it will suffice to say that if you know what you want in life and you know how much money you need for all of it, then you’ll have all the answers to questions like this.
It was easier before the price increases. Now, I try to only spend money on rare or limited items, which makes it easier to tell myself it’s worth it.
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Stonks.
I’ve done the same thing as many people in this thread, which is use my collection buying to roll into collection purchases for my own goals. For me, as long as a hobby remains + or neutral EV, then I can justify it.
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For whatever this is worth:
I am 22 years old and have been collecting since I was young. Now, as I enter adulthood, what I have done is created a separate bank account which is the ONLY place where I can pay for or use for my collecting. This means that I will not take out of savings or pay for cards when I can’t afford to (especially entering this job market out of school).
This is all to say, I buy and resell to grow my PokeFunds (as I call them) and that is that. If I have any extra money left over from a month, after putting money into my Roth or rent or food, then I will put it into my PokeFunds and use it how I see fit.
The way I see it, the PokeFund account is a lot like a separate portfolio, I just have complete control of it. I can put in and take out money when I want, sell what I have, invest where I think the market will grow, and sell where I think the market will fall. I will buy when the market is low on certain items, etc. I also will purchase what gives me pleasure within the hobby.
I don’t know if this was any help, but as I enter adulthood, I have had to consider how I will responsibly (financially speaking) control my Pokemon collecting, while maximizing gains within the hobby. Pratte talks about this kind of thing a lot - I highly suggest checking his content out when it comes to this 
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Start small and build slowly. Don’t put things on credit.
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Personal enjoyment, that’s the only justification you need, it’s a hobby after all! However if spending too much money will impair the enjoyment then you need to make some sacrifices, how about instead of making a collection of every single set instead you do a “type” collection like in coin collecting? Instead of buying every single card from every set simply do a #1-#251 Pokemon card collection where you choose the art and set depending on your budget, not only will you save money but space, you would only need 1 binder for it and 251 card sleeves.
I would be careful listening to answers about treating the purchases as re-sellable assets/stocks - that line of thinking can get you in trouble with overspending too quickly because ‘they’re good investments!’.
Whilst we’re all pretty optimistic about the future value of our cards, nobody can say for sure that they will definitely be worth more in the long term future.
Set an allowance for how much you can spend in a week/month/year - whatever time frame suits you, and DO NOT go over that allowance no matter what the reason is. If you go over once you’ll be sure to do it again, and purchasing can be very addictive.
I justify it by following the above (my allowance includes sales of cards)
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I have hard time justifying myself to purchase the last cards that I need for my mixed ex set collection. My mixed collection is basically one of each ex set card in any language and variants don’t matter as long as I have at least one variant of each card.
What I’m missing are all Team Rocket Returns Gold Stars, and Flareon Gold Star. Cheapest Mudkip I can find atm is 180 €. I’ve been thinking about it tbh. Cheapest Treecko is like 240 €. Cheapest Torchic is around 240 € as well. The chepest Flareons I’ve found don’t ship to Finland.
These are not prices I would like to pay for raw cards lol 
Wondering if I’ll skip the Team Rocket Returns Gold Stars completely and only get the Flareon. Idk… Or I just get one of them per month and limit other purchases but it also doesn’t feel right to me. Do I want to spend my money on 4 pieces of cardboard or a PS5 for example? Definitely a PS5 if it ever becomes available. So yeah. I’m kinda stuck here because of my own mindset.
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I only buy things I can afford and accept when an item is out of my reach. Thats okay.
Its just what happens.
Id never make a purchase where i felt like it would be too much for me financially or too risky.
That being said eventually id like to own all the gold stars and a complete base set but that doesnt have to be now
For me, I guess I am similar to most people on here. I have a good job that pays really well, however I do have monthly expenses and a family to think about first. That always takes priority. However, once all of that is taken care of and I have put aside some future savings I feel totally justified in spending my money on what I like. Its not like I am rolling in cash, but I make sure I am comfortable before spending.
Start with the big hitters from each set and you are more likely to manage to finish them. Obviously it will vary from place to place, but where I am right now, it is not the time to be buying WOTC so I focus on other goals. Its all down to personal circumstances. Good luck with your collection.
When the fun stops, STOP!
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The justification for buying Pokemon Cards, or anything else that you enjoy, arrives on its own when you’re responsible for your finances, have already put your most important financial obligations first, are not leveraging to spend, have accepted the fact there are limitations on what you will be able to afford, and most importantly, when you are grateful for what you already have.
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I’ve already pitched in above, but as I read more responses, I continue thinking of different ways of thinking about your question:
For example, think about going out to dinner, or to a bar, or to the movies? These are things people do, not out of necessity, but out of enjoyment. These are extra little things that people do out of their tastes. Some people have no issue going out to dinner and spending money there, justified by their enjoyment of going out to dinner, their tastes. The same principal applies to purchasing pokemon cards, at least it does in my eyes. There ought not be any guilt or need to justify if it is disposable money left over!!
In other words, you deserve to be happy and to enjoy your tastes! Just do so responsibly!
I do almost exactly the same!
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At the end of the day we all end up 6ft under. Might as well enjoy it whilst we are here. And unlike investments you do get a glorious bit of physical art with it in pokemon.
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Thank you everyone -its been very interesting reading each of these responses; seeing the different perspectives especially so.
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