My Financial Profile - MyFinPro.com
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The Budget Tip of the Day
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Today's Tip: Separate Your Wants from Your Needs
To compare wants versus needs, I want to bring you back to the age old question of love.
Consider these two statements:
Ok, now you see where I'm going with this. It is awfully easy to confuse the true meaning
of love. Similarly, it is very easy to confuse your basic needs with your basic wants.
Everybody in the world would sure love to watch television on a brand new 50 inch LCD
Sony flat screen television. But the bottom line is that you really don't need a television that
is this big. Don't get me wrong - if you can afford the television, by all means, live in
style. But the vast majority of us Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and simply
don't have the ability to justify such a purchase.
A television is a large scale example, but there are everyday things that you can identify as a
basic need or a basic want. Do you need the 32 ounce soft drink to get you through the
day? Sure, $1.29 doesn't sound like a lot of money, but multiply it by seven and all of a
sudden you just freed up $10 in your weekly budget.
Perhaps the best example would be this: do you really need to go out to the book store and
purchase the latest and greatest book to help you get your personal finances in order? Or
maybe should you just make sure and stop by www.myfinpro.com every day to get the
free budget tip of the day and work on the completely free budget spreadsheet that we
provide to you at absolutely no cost. I'm not biased here, but if I had to choose, I'd
probably keep coming back to the website! Why spend $24.95 plus tax at a bookstore?
Have you downloaded the free budget yet? Our free budget spreadsheet is updated for
2008 and features a monthly account tracker and budget form!
To compare wants versus needs, I want to bring you back to the age old question of love.
Consider these two statements:
- I really love pizza.
I really love my spouse.
Ok, now you see where I'm going with this. It is awfully easy to confuse the true meaning
of love. Similarly, it is very easy to confuse your basic needs with your basic wants.
Everybody in the world would sure love to watch television on a brand new 50 inch LCD
Sony flat screen television. But the bottom line is that you really don't need a television that
is this big. Don't get me wrong - if you can afford the television, by all means, live in
style. But the vast majority of us Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and simply
don't have the ability to justify such a purchase.
A television is a large scale example, but there are everyday things that you can identify as a
basic need or a basic want. Do you need the 32 ounce soft drink to get you through the
day? Sure, $1.29 doesn't sound like a lot of money, but multiply it by seven and all of a
sudden you just freed up $10 in your weekly budget.
Perhaps the best example would be this: do you really need to go out to the book store and
purchase the latest and greatest book to help you get your personal finances in order? Or
maybe should you just make sure and stop by www.myfinpro.com every day to get the
free budget tip of the day and work on the completely free budget spreadsheet that we
provide to you at absolutely no cost. I'm not biased here, but if I had to choose, I'd
probably keep coming back to the website! Why spend $24.95 plus tax at a bookstore?
Have you downloaded the free budget yet? Our free budget spreadsheet is updated for
2008 and features a monthly account tracker and budget form!
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friends that way). If you
want to share our site with a
friend, let us do the dirty
work for you. Don't worry -
it's anonymous and we will
only email them once!