Wants vs. Needs

Vince’s blog posts make me think . . not so much about what I’ll buy but more so about what he thinks about the things I buy. I’ll admit that there are some things I think I’ll use, I buy and then I don’t use. Recently, I ordered a few cookie cutters. It may have been 6 of them . . I can’t remember. For years, I’ve thought I wanted to try cookie decorating. I love seeing beautiful cookies but I did not like making them. If Nicole wants to try her hand at making those kinds of cookies, she can have everything I bought. If not, I’ll probably send it off to my friend who encouraged me to try making them.

I felt the cookie making supplies was a need because it’s something I had wanted to try for so long, had drooled (not literally) over other cookies I saw. I’m glad I spent less than $100 on the supplies. I had some idea that I wouldn’t like the process because I do not like fiddly type things. I’m more of an instant gratitude type person. Done. Moved on from that idea and it was worth what I spent to no longer want to do it.

I’ve told this story here before – Back when I was a young wife, working and spending every dime I made on clothes, I came across a purple dress in my favorite dress shop. There was a little shop in town and I’d go there often . . often enough than they’d often keep things for me in the back til I saw them. One day I was in the shop and there was a purple dress. Purple is my favorite color next to green and I probably would not buy a lime green dress but I would wear a lime green sweater.

I loved that purple dress. I tried it on and it fit perfectly but when you’re young and thin, most things do fit perfectly. I didn’t get it because the last dress I bought had been purple and I talked myself out of it. I went back to work, went home, kept thinking about that dress (obviously didn’t have a lot on my mind back then!), so I decided to go back the next day and get it. Went back and it was gone! I was a bit sad that I missed out on that dress. I’m not going to say I was scarred for life but I have never forgotten that incident and it was probably 40 years ago.

From that day forward, my deciding factor on whether I should get something or not was this: If I don’t get it, will I be sorry I didn’t get it? If the answer is yes, chances are, I’m going to get it.

Last night when I came across that pizzelle iron, my first thought was . . if I don’t get this and they sell out and then they’re not restocked, I’m going to be sorry. I thought about the want vs. need idea for a second or two, then had this discussion with Vince:

Me: Remember those pizzelles Cindy gave us?
Vince: Yes, and you’ve been looking for the thing to make them ever since?
Me: Yes, and I found one!

I read to him the blurb about it and the reviews from Amazon and Pleasant Hill Grain and he said “Get it!”

A pizzelle maker is definite not a need, in the traditional sense of the word. I suppose everyone could go through life without needing a pizzelle iron but, in my opinion, anything that’s been a “want” for 10+ years, has a good chance of becoming a “need”. Maybe that’s my justification for bad behavior.

When I think about the things I do buy, only with the yarn do I feel like I’ve been a bit excessive . . ok, it’s been a lot excessive but I’m doing great and I feel like I’m not going to be buying much in the future. I look at our vehicles, at the size of our house, our furniture, our trips, my clothes, my “luxury” items . . we just don’t buy a lot.

Our vehicles are old . . to the point that we really should buy something new. The “new” car is 12 years old, Vince’s car is 18 years old, the pickup is 22 years old. Just thinking about how much we would have spent during these years if we bought new cars every few years . . that’s mind boggling to me. Actually, my first thought was “that’s a lot of yarn!”

Our house is small. As we look for a new house, it isn’t about the size or cost of the house that is a priority to me. I think more about property taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance, getting enough land to not have close neighbors and therefore, I want to get the smallest house we can be comfortable living in. Yes, we still want more than 2 bathrooms but I think we can find that in a house that’s still not terribly large or expensive.

Our furniture – we have a dog in the house . . need I say more? We never bought expensive furniture because of the moves. That’s hard on furniture. Now that we’ll probably some day be making our last move, it seems absurd to buy expensive furniture since we’re just not going to be around forever – just a fact of life. Other than mattresses, our table is probably our most expensive piece of furniture and I think I paid $500 for the table and four chairs when we bought the second house in Kentucky and that was in 2001. I’d say we’ve gotten our money’s worth out of it. In fact, when we do move from here, we’re not taking that table or the living room furniture and probably only the furniture out of one bedroom. That bedroom furniture came from Target 12 years ago and I love it but it definitely was not expensive.

I so rarely buy clothes or shoes. I need new walking shoes now and I’ll probably get those when I’m in MO next time. There’s a little shoe shop there I like. I trade eggs for haircuts – no color, just a haircut. We do not enjoy traveling – not flying, not driving, not staying in hotels, not eating meals out so staying home is best for us. Traveling is not a luxury – it’s the dreaded thing we have to do sometimes.

Probably, besides yarn, my only other vice in the spending department would be kitchen gadgets. I love to cook and we much prefer eating at home to eating out. Maybe it’s just more justification for bad behavior but I tell myself the amount of money we save by eating at home more than covers the cost of the kitchen gadgets I buy.

Vince’s posts make me think. I wonder if he’s talking to me or if he’s simply sharing what he sees in the average consumer. I guess . . if the shoe fits – wear it! Maybe I do feel a bit guilty. Probably not! 🙂