Understanding Need Versus Want

Understanding Need Versus Want

Understanding a need versus a want is the first step that we should all take when trying to get control of our spending habits and monthly budgets, but it’s often a step we skip. There’s a lot of rationalization in our reasons for spending the way we do and far too little self-introspection.

It’s easy to differentiate between need versus want. The definitions are clear and if asked we could all, most likely, tell the difference. Where it gets difficult is in those moments where we’re not really thinking about how much we want something, or we’re not thinking at all. Very often much of our spending is based upon compulsory spending.

There are many expenses that we maybe don’t need, but are actually quite beneficial. For example, spending on home improvements to increase your home’s efficiency or taking course with online colleges aren’t really essential, but they go a long way towards improving the quality of your life. The issue of need versus want usually rears its head when we’re approach the topic of ancillary spending. For example:

NEEDS

Needs are the basics of living such as:

• Rent

• Paying the bills

• Food

• Clothing

• Transportation

These are the basic things that you have to budget for in order to get by and create a relatively comfortable living environment for you and your family. This is where it gets a little tricky. Yes, you need a car. But do you need a luxury car? Yes, you need heating. But do you need to keep the thermostat as high as you do? It’s these kinds of questions that people need to ask themselves when the rationalized spending on things that fall under the “need” category.

WANTS

• Going to the Movies

• Cable TV

• Cell Phones

• Eating Out

• New clothes

• Vacations

This is another grey area with some of the items because for many, cell phones have become essential towards balancing budgets, conducting business, and keeping in contact with other family members in case of emergency situations. But, generally speaking, these are things that you may like having but you don’t necessarily need to have in order to get by.

Sometimes all a person has to do is ask if an item is a necessity before purchasing it to avoid one more unnecessary expenditure. You’ll be surprised at how much you can get by without. There are a myriad reasons why we buy and it has a lot to do with the consumer-based mentality that we’ve been indoctrinated on a deep level. We’re surrounded by thousands of advertisements every day that all have the same goal: get you to buy. Keep yourself out of money troubles and embark on a campaign of introspection to understand why to buy what you buy.

 

Photo Credit (left) shlala (right) Gailf548

About Brad Chaffee

11 Responses to “Understanding Need Versus Want”

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  1. Needs and wants really get boiled down when creating a budget, especially when you hit rock bottom financially. A lot of people will justify outrageous purchases as necessities when they’re really luxuries.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I agree and with my experience helping people they always have some kind of justification. That’s what makes it so very hard to help folks climb out of their hole. They don’t understand that doing the same thing they’ve been doing is the reason why they are struggling usually. Great comment! 😀

  2. Chelle says:

    So true Brad, we often forget what is a need vs. want, and there are so many things in between that could be considered both – though most of those things after you give them up you realize it’s not that bad without it, maybe even nicer than you expected. Cable TV is a good example of that, because you’d find yourself doing things that are more productive than staring at a screen all the time.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I couldn’t agree more Chelle!! We used to be one of those families who always had to have cable television. The cost of that usually was between $50-$100 depending on the mood we were in at the time. It tends to start on the cheaper side, but then you end up wanting more and more and when it’s all said and done, what you end up getting is ultimately not worth the cost. Usually you flip through the channels for an hour trying to find something to watch. Personally I think you should be charged per channel and have the options to choose the ones you watch the most. Anyway, ever since 2008 we’ve been cable free and never looked back or regretted that decision. Now we have Netflix for that entertainment and spend much more of our time doing other things. We love Netflix! ($9 a month though they just changed the pricing so it will cost us only $8 for streaming movies to our TV.) 😀

  3. Weston says:

    I’m thinking it’s kind of dangerous from a financial point of view to have “paying the bills” under the needs category.

    For many people those bills arise out of spending for wants, and listing them in this manner can be very misleading.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I think the “bills”, in the context of this article, are meant to be things such as utilities. Utilities are needs. I don’t think the author was talking about expensive cell phone bills, cable television etc. Otherwise I would agree with you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😀

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      One more thing. You could take any legitimate need and turn it into a want. For instance, you need shelter, but you don’t need a million dollar house. You need to get from point A to point B, but you don’t need a Lexus. We need to eat, but we don’t need to eat at restaurants everyday. We need clothing but we don’t need name brand expensive fashion.

  4. When my wife and I started really tracking our spending habits, we found a lot of our money going to “wants.” We would normally characterize ourselves as struggling with not having enough funds right now…but if there’s a good chunk of funds each month going towards “wants” is that really true? Are we really struggling just because we cannot have all the “wants” that we desire? If we can provide all the “needs” for our family and still have some left over, then maybe we’re not as bad off as we think we are…

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      We were the same way my friend! We didn’t realize that we were declaring wants as needs until we took a closer look when we were trying to cut some of the budget. 🙂

  5. Clair Schwan says:

    Brad, I just happen to have an article about this that shows how at a very young age, we become adept at using the word “need” when all we really have is a “want.” Our words influence our thoughts and they in turn influence our actions, so knowing (and being able to articulate) the difference between need and want is important. http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/need-vs-want.html

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my ex’s favorite phrase is/was, “I need some money.” And, quite simply, that’s why she’s my ex. Building and retaining wealth requires surrounding oneself with the right people, and when those around you don’t know the difference between need and want, it’s time to get new associates.

    Lastly, an acquaintance of mine said something that I thought was very insightful, and it applies here when we’re trying to distinguish between need and want. While looking at some land to buy, which had a number of complexities and was probably priced too high, he suggested, “You can talk yourself into just about anything.” Isn’t that the truth. I knew it, and made the wise choice of walking away from the deal.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I agree Clair. It’s easy to talk yourself into or justify any expense as a need simply because you want it. In fact, I think most people operate this way. Great comment! Thanks!

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