Home
>
Wealth Building
>
The Difference Between Wants & Needs

The Difference Between Wants & Needs

So you want to become wealthy? While there is no single road to getting there, it's a sure bet that one principle is in place for those who keep their wealth over a lifetime. Live beneath your means. Spend less than you make. Don't spend more than you can afford. It doesn't come any simpler than this. If you want to create wealth, you have to learn to do this. It doesn't matter if you make $10,000 a year or $1 million, if you don't learn how to master the step of spending less than you earn, you'll never create lasting wealth.

While the concept is simple, chances are you are not following it. In all likelihood, you are living paycheck to paycheck, treading water. No matter how hard you try, you never seem to get ahead. Even when the raises come, the money still disappears just as fast. If this sounds like your situation, you probably have not mastered the difference between needs and wants.

First, it's important to realize that wants and needs are not the same. When you read that sentence, you probably said to yourself, "Of course, everyone knows that." Again, while everyone may know this intellectually, it is a good bet that you aren't completely honest with yourself when it comes to the things you purchase.

How many times have you heard (or for that matter said yourself) "I absolutely need (fill in the blank)" when in reality the meaning was "I really want (fill in the blank)?" I can't live without those shoes...I will die if I can't have that ring...I simply have to have that car...the list can go on and on. Please don't get me wrong. These are phrases that we all use. That is why it's important to step back and remember that wants and needs are not the same.

It's important at this point to make clear that taking the time to critically look at your current lifestyle and what are the true needs versus those things that are convenient wants will go a long way in saving you money and enabling you to spend less than you make. Let's take an example of your TV. Is your TV a need or a want? Although I can hear the arguments already rationalizing why a TV is a necessary part of your life, the truth is that it is more than likely a want. In most cases, it is probably an affordable want (The exception may be if you decided you had to have that 50 inch state of the art plasma television with the price tag of a small car). The question is whether the digital cable TV, 6 premium channels, satellite dish, the on demand movies, the DVD player with movie selection, etc are all also affordable wants?

Here is a list. Take a few moments to jot down what is a need and what is a want.

shoes

designer suit

water

large apartment

bed

ice-cream

lottery tickets

car

entertainment center

club membership

lunch

concert tickets

trip to Hawaii

medicine

necklace

computer

daily espresso

cellular phone

golf clubs

furnishings

Unfortunately, the answers to these questions are not completely black and white. What may be a want for one person may be a necessity for another person. For example, let's take a look at a computer. If you make your livelihood on the computer, then a computer is a necessity for you. If you only use a computer to play the latest online games, then it isn't. Knowing this, we can still make some pretty good guesses as to what are wants and what are needs from the above list for most people. Shoes (and clothing in general), water, bed, car, lunch, medicine and furnishings are good bets to be needs. Now that doesn't mean that the latest model, 4 wheel drive sport utility vehicle with all the extras counts as a need for most people, but basic transportation to make a living does.

A large apartment, computer and cellular phone may or may not qualify as a need depending on your particular circumstances while a designer suit, ice-cream, lottery tickets, entertainment center, club membership, concert tickets, trip to Hawaii, necklace, daily espresso and golf clubs all probably fall into the want section.

If you can take the time to start being honest with yourself, you will find that a lot of the things which you assumed were an absolute necessity until now are in reality nothing more than wants. Once you distinguish between the two and look at these issues objectively, you have placed yourself in the position to live within your means by simply asking yourself whether or not an item or service you are about to purchase is a need or merely a want.

This article may be freely distributed so long as the copyright, author's information and an active link (where possible) are included.

A complimentary copy of any newsletter or a link to the site where the article is posted would be greatly appreciated.

About The Author

Jeffrey Strain has published hundreds of money saving articles and the creator of the Daily Money Saving Challenge Program. He is the co-owner of http://www.savingadvice.com -- a website dedicated to saving you money. http://www.savingadvice.com

detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..

In The News:

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

The Difference Between Wants & Needs

Wealth Building