I have blogged before about how we used to borrow lots of money and pay on credit cards every month. That was such a blast I think I’d rather have a couple of root canals instead. Now we use cash, as I have also blogged about, and as I just wrote a couple of posts back, we actually have money in the bank now. Amazing how ditching credit cards and working on having an equation that works (more income - less outgoing = money in the bank) makes life easier. So for this part of the diatribe (some of you are thinking that’s what these posts are. I can’t totally disagree), I want to talk about balancing the equation of wants and needs.
Now some people, and it’s probably the same group that won’t get off the couch because “their time is too valuable,” think that everything they want is actually a need. “Oh, but I need a new smart phone. I need to get my nails done, or get new shoes (making pair number twenty), or get my haircut at the expensive stylist.” As the Brits would say, “What a load of tosh.” I use clippers at home to cut my hair, and I haven’t paid for a haircut for going on twenty years now. But that might be a bit extreme for everyone, so let’s get a little more moderate.
Needs are things that you have to have to survive, make a living, exist. Reliable transportation is a need for most of us. Having a fancy new car that costs hundreds a month in payment is not a need. That’s what I would call stupid. We own three cars outright, and if we need another, we will troll the used-car lots until we find an acceptable vehicle we can buy for cash. I’ve been there with the “I have to have a new car,” so I know that I don’t have to have a new car. Mine is twelve years old and runs fine.
We all have to eat. That is a need. Food is necessary, steak is not. If you are someone that has to eat out, or buy expensive everything at the grocery, you may not get the whole math problem thing yet. Chicken legs are typically a dollar or less a pound, as opposed to that juicy ten dollar a pound steak. If you make a lot of money and want steak, have at it. But for most of us, chicken legs will work just fine.
There are other things I could list, but I think that the point is made. Don’t get caught up wanting everything so badly that is becomes a need that you cannot afford. That is a surefire way to create problems for yourself and for those around you.