Have vs. Need

I remember my first job as a retail clerk in a sporting goods store. I was 16 and earning minimum wage. A wage I wasn’t earning before obtaining my first job, yet it didn’t take long before this previously non-existent income wasn’t enough to support my youthful expenses. I remember wishing I earned just a few dollars more hourly & then all my needs would be met & everything would be “perfect”.

Years later, I was 21 & working at my first real job in corporate telecommunications. I was earning a nice livable wage with awesome benefits & a sweet yearly bonus. I was making three times the amount of my first job where I’d wished for just a few dollars more for everything to be “perfect”. I moved out of my parents home, shopped when I wanted and furnished my first apartment with no monthly payments due – yet, everything wasn’t “perfect”.

It never is.

Truth is, the more we earn ☞ the more we consume ☞ the more we want.

That’s just the way it is. Imagine if I had my 21-year-old income at the age of 16? In retrospect, everything seems as tho it would’ve been perfect but I’m doubtful that would’ve been the case.

Ever have a moment when the importance of your material possessions seem pointless in the face of something far more urgent? Like a health scare or losing a loved one? Moments that bring what really matters into perspective and your point of view is clarified with magnified precision? I’m sure we all have at some point. Makes you look around at all the stuff you’ve managed to accumulate throughout the years with a sudden urge to just do away with it all!

What we need can be contained in a rather small space.

What we have is often a reflection of varying moods, impulses, deals disguised as “opportunities” and self-indulgent must-haves.

Decluttering my office sparked this post but then it morphed into something deeper such as values and the true definition of a ‘prized possession’.

So let’s discuss: what you need versus what you want.

How do you define the difference?

3 comments on “Have vs. Need”

Hannah
May 22, 2012

I’m awful at seeing the difference and am thus awful at managing money. I am about to do a spending ban for three months through Winter (june/July/August) bar a small allowance to keep me on track. I think that will help me better define my wants versus my needs. I have about sixty pairs of shoes. I wear about five. That kind of stuff.

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- suite7beautytalk
  May 22, 2012
  
  I think that’s a great idea! I’ve done the spending ban plenty of times (in the midst of one right now actually) & it works to cut back, save some dough & lets you really see what you need versus what you want. I was terrible with shopping for many years just because I could & all I really ended up with was a closet of clothes I wasn’t wearing & didn’t need. I gave so much of it away & still need to purge more so kudos to you for that! : )
  
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