Tag Archives: needs

How to Have Anything You Want

I go to a lot of music festivals and concerts.  Particularly bluegrass music.  That’s really my thing.  Everybody has their thing.  It seems like I’m spending a lot of money on live music.  And I am.  But that’s because live music is a priority for me.  I’ve made tradeoffs in other areas of life to make room in the budget for the thing that is important to me.  I live in a very small house.  I buy most of my clothes secondhand.  My “newer” car is 12 years old.  I buy store brands at the grocery store.  I’ve never been to Europe.  I don’t spend much money on beauty products or self-care rituals.  These are the things that are not a very high priority for me.  I have what I need.  I don’t need new or fancy or high end.  I DO need live music for my life to be satisfying and happy.

Every financial decision comes with a trade-off.  Your home may have the space you like and the location you like, but come with a roommate you didn’t initially want.  Your food may be delicious and nutritious, but you may be substituting cheaper proteins for more expensive options.  You may have chosen a less expensive college than your dream school, or you may have taken on student loan debt in order to afford your dream school.

Adulthood is full of decisions.  Some decisions are big.  Others are small.  But every decision comes with a tradeoff of some sort.  Every single thing you spend money on makes it so you can’t spend that money on something else.  I’m sure there are wealthy folks who can spend freely on absolutely anything without thinking about it, but even those folks are making the decision not to invest those funds or donate them to charity.

The next time you face a financial decision (which could be anything from selecting a box of pasta at the grocery store to deciding which job to accept), remember this:  You can have anything you want.  You just can’t have everything you want.

 

Wants and Needs: Choose Wisely

It’s been a long time since I’ve brought out this old standard saying, but it bears repeating.  If you live like a lawyer while you are a student, you will live like a student when you are a lawyer.  It’s a classic saying that law school financial aid administrators have been using for as long as I can remember to try to encourage students not to borrow too much money.  But I’ve seen a friend of mine (let’s call her Jane) who has never even thought about law school dig herself into a financial hole in a very similar way.

I have been watching Jane make financial mistakes for years, despite my efforts to stop her.  She is so focused on the life that she wishes for that she shops for it.  She buys high end camping gear for trips she doesn’t take.  She buys furniture for a house she doesn’t have.  She buys clothes that are perfect for events she doesn’t go to.  And spending that money for the life she longs for puts that life even more out of reach because she doesn’t have the money to get there.

One of the big challenges in life is knowing how to define your “wants” and your “needs.”  And it’s ok to treat yourself to some wants, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the ability to meet your needs.  I need to eat.  I do not need to eat steak or lobster.  Special treat foods are nice every once in a while, but I know that my budget won’t allow for that on a regular basis.  Plus I think it makes the special things less special if you indulge in them too often.  I need shelter, but I don’t need a giant house for just me and my husband and our trio of crazy cats.  We have a small house that needs work, and that covers our needs just fine.  I need transportation to work.  I could take the bus.  But I indulge one of my wants by driving a car.  It’s a 10 year old Subaru.  It’s not the car of my dreams.  But it does fill my transportation needs (as well as some transportation wants!) just fine.  I don’t have everything I want.  But I do have everything I need, so I don’t fear that I won’t be able to meet the next month’s bills.

Jane doesn’t have the security of knowing she’ll be able to cover the bills when they come due.  She’s been prioritizing her wants over her needs.  And that gets in the way of her getting to where she wants to be.  It’s ok to treat yourself to some wants.  As long as it doesn’t get in the way of meeting your needs.

Don’t let the live you want get in the way of the life you currently have.  Don’t be a Jane.

 

Put Your Money Where It Matters (to you)

Money is always a game of juggling your priorities.  I became extra aware of it this weekend when I was talking with my father about my aging and ailing Toyota Prius.  The trunk doesn’t open on my Prius.  The latch broke a couple of months ago and my father asked me why I hadn’t had it fixed yet.  And I blathered something about not having time and money.  But then I realized that fixing the trunk just wasn’t my priority right now.  I find the time and money to go see my favorite bluegrass bands.  I always find the time and money to enjoy dinner out at my favorite brewpub on Friday nights.  I have the time and money to take a class every semester to work toward an academic goal.  It’s just not that important to me to be able to open the trunk on my Prius.  I will get it fixed eventually.  But it’s pretty easy for me to work around for now, so I just haven’t made it a priority.

I guess the tricky part with money is defining your priorities and making sure they’re not out of balance.  Making bluegrass festivals more important than repairing the broken trunk latch on a car that is otherwise fine isn’t a problem.  Making dinner out at the brewpub more important than paying the rent is a HUGE problem.  It’s a matter of making sure your NEEDS are met before you start throwing money at your WANTS.  And then you can decide how you are going to prioritize those wants.

I want to get my trunk repaired.  I just don’t want it more than I want concert tickets.  At least not this week.