Wants vs Needs

There’s two school of thoughts when you want to buy something. There’s the ‘wants’ and the ‘needs’. Of course there will always be an intersection of the two but mostly it’s along that line. The ‘wants’ are stuff that you desire, things that make you feel good, satisfy your stomach craves, make you feel cool, make you feel like you’re part of everyone else in this materialistic world. Then, there’s the ‘needs’ – stuff that you can’t do without, fill your stomach, help you academically, things that you use daily.

When you consider the ‘wants’, sometimes you try to intersect it with the ‘needs’ so that you can give yourself a reason to get it. Personally, I don’t buy ‘wants’, at least rarely (once in a while I get my Pringles). Recently, I felt like getting a smartphone (Windows Phone 7) or even an iPod. But, I still can’t bring myself to consider why I need them at all. Those are definitely my ‘wants’ but it’s nowhere near to the ‘needs’ at all.

I don’t know, I never buy stuff much actually. Some people think I”m going to be super rich because I don’t spend any money on things. But then again, what’s the point of having so much money if you don’t spend any, right? Anyway, I’m not earning my own money now so I guess I’ll just stick to being me. Fulfilling ‘needs’ are much more important now, I guess.

Financial life

I’m currently reading a book called “The Parable of  the Pipeline” – lent to me by Shu Lin. It is pretty thought-provoking for me as I have never really thought about how my financial life is going to be like in the future. A few weeks ago, I overheard two girls chatting on the bus. They have just started working and were talking about their financial state: their pay as their income and then their expenditure – to parents, food, transport, rent, future house or car etc. After subtracting all the necessary expenditure, it didn’t seem like there was enough money to spend on the big stuff like a car or a house. Even if it’s in installment, it’ll probably take quite a number of years to save up to spend that amount of money. I think that it holds true for most individuals who are working on kind of a fixed pay job. I was wondering how to survive too.

Anyway, this book kind of led me to think about investments and stuff to “grow” money. I don’t really have any idea on how to manage money well. But, I’m glad at least my parents knew how to invest and I have lived a comfortable, money-worry-free life. I would really like to plan my financial life proper, as in how I should save or invest and after I have the money how do I spend it? Honestly speaking, if you know me well, I hardly spend money, at least not now. :p Maybe when I get a pure financial independence, I will. But, whatever it is, I still think it’s good to plan it out first instead of getting stuck somewhere someday. So, I think I should go home and ask my parents’ advice.

Mentioning home, I’m going back this Saturday. Two more days to go only. So happy. =D

Til the next post then.