needs vs. wants Archives - Solopreneur Profit Coach |

Want to Enjoy Your Life? Fund It.

The irony of financial goal setting is that we can get so wrapped up in our big-picture idea of financial success, that we forget to lean into enjoying our lives too. This is a snag that I see many people get stuck on. We focus on purchasing a home or funding our retirement. These financial priorities are great, but they sometimes overshadow something that also takes a bit of cash – having fun!

The Importance of Fun

It seems a bit silly to make a serious case for the importance of enjoying your life, but a lot of us (including me) need that reminder! Right now I’m reading The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price. One of my favorite concepts from this book so far has been Price’s conviction that the moments we are having true fun are the moments we feel most alive.

When it really comes down to it, isn’t that what most of us want anyway? To feel alive in a positive, joyful way? Yes, there’s certainly a lot to be said for achieving goals and getting things done. And, I believe that oftentimes we want to do those things in service to our pursuit of aliveness.

When Fun Costs Money

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might be surprised to see me recommending that you spend money on “fun.” That might even seem contradictory to another concept I like to write about, teasing out your wants from your needs. I particularly like to emphasize the point of finding your “enough,” and of meeting your needs and wants creatively and inexpensively.

Actually, that does apply here. The thing is, being on top of your finances is not about being so frugal that you don’t have any enjoyment in your life. There may be a point where you realize that you truly want something that you know will bring a lot of joy, but also cost money. When you’re setting your financial goals, you can prepare for this and take it into account!

This might be a longterm savings goal, like a trip overseas, or it might be a purchase, like a musical instrument. These things do cost money, but they’re worth it. Including them in your financial planning is an important of remembering to enjoy your life!

Fun Up Your Finances

So, how do we integrate fun into our finances, exactly? My suggestion would be to keep fun in the front of your mind whenever you’re setting new financial goals for yourself. Here are a couple articles of mine on the subject that you might enjoy:

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The One Indispensable Spending Guideline: Needs Vs. Wants

One spending guideline that is indispensable is identifying your needs versus your wants. Difficulty understanding this can result in either over-spending or over-saving. Ultimately, it can reflect a lack of clarity around our values around money. If you feel stumped by this concept, or aren’t sure how your spending behavior measures up, don’t worry! We’re going to parse out the details right here:

Needs vs. Wants

Many of us are familiar with differentiating between needs and wants. It’s a skill we cultivate throughout our lifetimes. Although we sometimes run into pitfalls, we are ultimately making thousands of decisions a day – it’s important to have a little compassion for ourselves when we’re thinking about our financial decision making.

So, what makes a need, a need and a want, a want? Basic necessities you need to take care of yourself and live with a certain degree of comfort are needs. Nutritious food, sound housing, quality clothes and shoes, and things like electricity, car insurance, etc. definitely fall into the need category. We also have needs related to caring for ourselves. This is where things can get tricky – many people have difficulty differentiating between needs and wants here. When considering a purchase, it can be helpful to try and identify the underlying need. For example, if you want to spend money on a day-long spa retreat, but what you really want is some quiet time to yourself, there are likely other ways you could meet that need. Especially if it’s a matter of staying in your budget or not, sussing out the need underlying the want can be very helpful.

Over-spender, or Over-saver?

You may have some idea of whether you fit into either category. If you’re not sure what over-saving is, I recommend reading my article about it – it could be enlightening. When it comes to identifying needs vs. wants, over-spenders and over-savers tend to behave differently. Over-spenders frequently feel every purchase is filling a need, while over-savers tend to see every potential purchase as a want. In both cases, these spending habits can cause problems. Over-spenders can find themselves without important savings accounts or in debt, while over-savers can hold off on essential purchases like medical expenses. Both behaviors result in a deficit of self-care. To really take care of ourselves financially, we need to find a midpoint, where we have our needs met, and a few of our wants too. Someone who has really good thinking about this is Vicki Robin, who speaks poetically about finding your “enough” in Your Money or Your Life. You can read my book review here.

I hope these thoughts will help you examine your own spending behaviors. If you’re interested in a little more self care, check out my Facebook page for Financial Self Care Fridays, all month at 8am PST via FB Live. I’m providing prompts and accountability to help you develop a financial self care habit. I hope you’ll join me!

Angela

Image by: Artem Beliaikin