Hi Friend!
Today I think I want to talk to you about the difference between Needs and Wants!
It may seem very clear to you which things go under each category, but is it really? For example, a book, is it a need or a want? Well, if you're a teacher it may be a need, but if you really only love to read, then it’s a want. A need and a want can be very different from person to person.
Having said that, there are things that are definitely “wants” no matter how much you try to justify why you absolutely need it! But ultimately you get to decide what is a need for you. If you have a plan for your life and your money it is easier to categorise these wants and needs.
I have a rule to decide which is one or the other. I always, well, most of the times, look at the thing I want to buy and ask myself if I really can’t live without that thing or if I just don’t want to. I also ask myself if buying this thing is going to put me further or closer to my financial goals!
I also remind myself every day what my financial goals are. Am I trying to get out of debt, save for a vacation? To buy a new bag? I also ask myself which is more important, to buy the thing and maybe delay my big goal by 2 or 3 months or to not buy the thing and have my big goal reached within the time frame I had established in the first place? This can look different from situation to situation, for example if I’m saving for a car but I have the opportunity of going on a weekend get-away and not save anything towards the car that month… I probably choose to go on the weekend and delay buying the car by another month, or two. But if it’s between going on a weekend and not being able to save towards Christmas that month and Christmas is only 2 month away, I probably will choose Christmas savings over the weekend! There’s no right or wrong here, only whatever makes more sense to you and the season of life you are in! Your life is yours to design, so you get to decide. Although if the option is to put it on credit, don’t do that!
My trick to stick to my big saving goals is to put post-its all over the place with reminders of what I’m working towards, financially speaking, because I do need to be reminded of my goals! I mean it’s so easy to spend those 10 or 100 dollars without thinking!
So, are wants and needs clear for you? When I was trying to get out of debt I didn’t have many needs, I didn’t even need to buy fresh bread everyday. Today buying fresh bread might be a need! Side note, it isn’t because I’d rather save those 2 bucks every day, 60 a month and 720 a year for my Christmas fund, or a nice pair of shoes! It’s my life, I choose!
You can do that math with anything you spend money regularly on. Just be intentional about it and don’t go spend that money on something else you don’t need! Just saying…
Remember, what’s essential for one person is a commodity for another, ultimately it’s up to you to decide how you want to live your life and how you can move things around in your budget to get it to where you feel good about it and are happy for now! A budget or your life, for that matter, aren’t stationary, they’re always evolving so just because things look one way today doesn’t mean they are going to look like that forever!
My tip for you is, think before you take action, aka spend! You’ll soon figure out what’s important to you and your family and you’ll start making small changes that make a big difference in your life. And that happens when your WHY becomes big enough!
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email me: sara@moneywhineandcheese.com
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