WANTS AND NEEDS
Be a smart shopper and learn to shop for needs before wants. A need is something you must have to survive. For example, you need food, clothing and shelter. Something you want is something you can live without. For example, you may need a new pair of jeans, but you want designer jeans. Generic or on-sale jeans are just fine.
Activities:
1. Go through your Herald-Leader (paper or eEDITION) and find ads for products you use or would like to have. Make two columns and note which product you need or just want. See which list is longer.
2. Create a shopping list for a week of groceries. Go through the list and cross off the items you can live without. Use newspaper grocery ads to figure out how much you would save by not buying the items crossed off the list.
3. Imagine you need to rent an apartment. You have $1,000 to furnish it. Make a list of your wants. Make a list of your needs. Look through the Herald-Leader for prices on these items. Can you get everything on both lists with your $1,000? If not, rank the items on your lists in order of importance.
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Resource: Life’s Basics, Wise Buys, 2004 Knight Ridder Productions, Inc.