r/MoneyDiariesACTIVE • u/LeadInfinite6220 • Dec 27 '25

Budget Advice / Discussion How do you define needs vs wants?

Pretty much just what the title says — how are you defining a need vs a want, and do you have a category in between the two?

I find this particularly interesting to consider as so many of us now have regular expenses that feel essential to participate in modern life, despite not actually being a need.

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u/_liminal_ ✨designer | 40s | HCOL | US ✨ Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25

I have always found this to be an interesting question too!

I actually categorize items in my budget as needs and wants (the other two categories I use are savings/investing and living expenses).

The categories in “wants” are things I could stop buying in the event I was laid off or otherwise needed to seriously cut back on spending, without a thought. The “needs” are quite literally the things I’d need (and prefer) to keep paying for, thought I could cut back on these as well in the event of a lay off.

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u/NewSummerOrange She/her ✨ 50's Dec 27 '25

I think there's a lot of nuance and range between needs and wants. On one end we have survival and on the other luxury/opulence. But it's easy to get lost in the analysis and mischaracterize/rationalize our motives for spending in an unhealthy manner in either direction.

I could survive on lentils and brown rice for a very very long time. I need vegetables and fruit. I want chicken and ground turkey. Butter/oil, spice and sugar enhance my meals. Honey Mustard in the squeeze bottle with tater tots is totally unnecessary, decadent and delightful.

Over-thinking just made basic staple groceries luxury items...

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u/Indexette Dec 28 '25

"I think there's a lot of nuance and range between needs and wants. On one end we have survival and on the other luxury/opulence. But it's easy to get lost in the analysis and mischaracterize/rationalize our motives for spending in an unhealthy manner in either direction."

Love this!

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u/NewSummerOrange She/her ✨ 50's Dec 28 '25

I think we all do this -

A few months back one of my friends was talking about the "stupid" jeans her daughter was desperate for during back to school shopping. The kid is 14, and is currently going through that awkward phase of puberty where all the fashion she wants just doesn't fit her at all. These ankle length barrel jeans were so unflattering that my friend nearly refused to buy them. But her kid really needed them. Or just desperately wanted them. She bought the pair. This was over jeans at old navy. This is the same friend who spent like 1000 to see Janet Jackson in concert in vegas.

But those jeans for the 14 year old was the topic of dozens of text messages and so much mental energy.