Budgeting: needs & wants

I've written about building a budget, here.  I've written about getting out of debt.  I've written about meal planning to help cut what you spend on food...

Now, I'm going to write about other spending, and something you need to think about now, before the pressure comes on as your purchasing power goes down and your salary doesn't go up at the same rate.  

A lot of people have strong difficulty differentiating between need and want.  You hear people talking about how they "need" this or that thing...and you're left scratching your head, because really?  You need that brand new iDevice that just came out and doesn't work any better than the iDevice in your hands?  You need an iDevice at all, when the Other Kind sometimes work simpler/better/faster, and are almost always less expensive?  What, does your livelihood depend on the iDevice's superior artistic rendering programs?  (Yeah, I strongly doubt that for most people.)  

What they have are powerful wants.  And a complete and total lack of ability to delay gratification.  

A lot of these children are going to either have to grow up fast, or they're going to shatter over the next few years as they slam against The Gods of the Copybook Headings as they follow the gods of the marketplace at full speed with their eyes closed. 

Utilities: these are needs.  You need the water on, and the lights and heat working.  These are absolutes, and come out of the top, right under your house.  

Groceries: You need food.  You need dairy, meat, fruit & veggies, and starches.  I'm certain everyone knows that you're best served by fresh; however fresh is fucking expensive, with "certified organic" and "non-GMO" (a bitch-post in and of itself) the most expensive.   A lot of the time, even processed frozen can be cheaper, either by straight-up unit cost, or by the fact that the bits you don't eat have already been tossed.  Canned...isn't quite as good for you--some nutrients are lost during the cooking process.  However, there's a lot less lost than most people realize, and some that are made more bio-available by the canning process.  Beans are cheap; so is rice.  Together, they do comprise complete protein, if not with all of the nutrients available in meat.  

Coffee's a necessity.  For some.  If it is for you, budget for it.  And do make it for yourself, at home.  It's so much better, both for your budget, and in flavor that way.  Hell, I'm a coffee snob, and I buy 2 lb bags of whole bean coffee at a time, and still spend less on coffee in a month than a lot of people do in a week.  

You want convenience food.  You want goodies, candy, cookies.  You don't need them, and they go at the bottom of the list, and do not go in the cart unless they fit within the dollar amount you have to spend for that grocery trip. 

You need to be able to communicate from home--some people require robust, fast internet connections for work from home.  Some don't.  But communication itself is a must, since emergencies happen. 

What isn't a necessity is any type of cable, or subscription entertainment.  In fact, I've labeled all of ours as "wants"--everything from Amazon Prime to streaming subscription television to (yes, including) Kindle Unlimited (although that one is going to be the last one cut).  As for entertainment...yes, there's still broadcast TV, and some of the stations are re-running old series that are far more entertaining than the newer ones; there's also free streaming entertainment services that run on ads.  Very much like broadcast television always was.  

Now.  I want to make a specific note that you do not need to cut everything right now.  What you need to do is start figuring out what category everything you pay for falls into: need, or want.   Then start prioritizing those wants: the higher the specific one is on the list, the longer you hang onto it.  

Have a plan.  Write it down with your written budget, and pay attention.  When you start having trouble...start cutting out the wants.  Immediately.