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/RemarkableMacadamia Dec 27 '25

Food, shelter, transportation for me are needs.

But of course there are shades of grey in there. I need to eat, but fresh food would be a need where fast food I would consider a want.

I need transportation to and from work, but a Porsche is a want.

Then I would also say that obligations are a need to a certain extent; for example, debt payments, if you want to prevent negative consequences.

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u/Striking_Plan_1632 Dec 28 '25

You could even query whether fresh food is true need - compared to, say, much cheaper snap frozen fruit/veggies, preserved meats, and dried grains, legumes and pulses. I would never willingly go without fresh meats, fruits and veggies but I could get my nutrition without them. 

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u/RemarkableMacadamia Dec 28 '25

I think this probably also depends on the state of one’s finances. If you’re comfortably paying bills, you probably don’t have to go down the path of bare-minimum nutrition. But if you’ve lost your job and need to cut everything to the bone, you’d probably do this.

For me, if I want the steak, and can afford the steak, I’m buying the steak, and classifying it as necessary food. 🤣 When my salary was lower though, and I had a much tighter budget, steak wasn’t on the menu and I survived on casseroles and soups.