Biggest Reason You Can’t Save: Confusing Wants with Needs
Most people make enough money to live on, but get them into debt anyways. And, the primary reason is that they confuse a want with a need. There are only a few basic needs for modern human beings: food, transportation, clothing, shelter, and even some form of companionship. After that, everything is a want, not a need. So, when modern conveniences break down and you head out to get a payday loan to cover it, make sure that you’re using it for a real need, and not a want, and then make sure you can pay it back on time.
Making Do With Less
People who lived through the Great Depression didn’t have dishwashers or refrigerators. These are modern conveniences, and when one breaks down, it can be a tough decision to figure out whether you really need to replace it or whether you can do without. If you want to be exceedingly frugal, you can opt not to replace a refrigerator. However, if the alternative is that you eat out more often because you can’t store food, then a refrigerator is a modern necessity because it deals with food conservation, even if people in the past did without them and used ice.
On the other hand, if your dishwasher breaks down, it doesn’t really affect the ability to store or prepare food. You will still eat without a dishwasher; you just have to manually wash your dishes until you can afford to replace this convenience. So, while it’s basically a wanted item, not a needed item, people will not consider doing without it, even at times when they can’t pay for it outright. In that case, the modern ideal of living in comfort can help to confuse people about what a true need is and what a want is.
Take a Step Back and Evaluate
Ask yourself when an “emergency” happens: Is this a want or a need? We are so conditioned to replacing all our modern conveniences on credit that it doesn’t always sink in that these are conveniences, not necessities. If your income is steady, your debt is low, or you can purchase the item in cash outright, go ahead and buy. But, if any of these factors are shaky, think twice before replacing something that just may be a want and not a true need.