Sunday, March 04, 2018

Indifferent to the difference between needs and wants

Today I was chatting with some members in the Bigscribe facebook group regarding fixed and variable income. It's just the usual banter that happens daily, so it provides an environment where you get saturated with how to build wealth and generally live a good life. Like diffusion and osmosis, you have no choice but to be the average of the 5 people you hang out with.


But that's not the point of this post. I was reflecting on my journey regarding the separation of needs and wants. You know the usual rules when it comes down to controlling expenses, that gurus will first ask you to list down your needs and your wants. By strictly managing between your needs and wants, you can reduce your expenses. I've nothing against this, and I've also done this before, but no longer do that anymore.

So why is that so?

In this particular aspect, my journey is as follows:

1) Know nothing between wants and needs. Just spend as long as I have cash or credit.
2) Know the difference between wants and needs. Just spend on the needs and cut back on the wants.
3) Question the difference between wants and needs. Start to spend more on the wants to enhance quality of life.
4) Know nothing between wants and needs. Just spend as long as I have cash or credit.


Life is often like a game of snake and ladders. We travelled so far to go back to square one.


It seems that I have travelled around the world and went back to square one. But this isn't the case! On the surface, it seems that I no longer care about the needs and wants, but the mindset is totally different. I don't care much about spending now because I already know that even if I were to go mad with shopaholic disease, I couldn't possibly bust my bank account. Hence the difference between stage (1) and stage (4) is a deep understanding of myself and my limits. Everything is internally controlled and there is no need for an artificial demarcation of spending into needs and wants.


There are many other examples where I have gone full circle and went back to square one, well, superficially. But the journey is not just what happens on the surface, it is a journey travelled internally as well.


And what is essential is invisible to the eye.

4 comments :

Singapore Man of Leisure said...

LP,

I understand what you say with my "body".

LOL!


Going up the mountain and coming down, I am at the same spot where I started at ground zero. But the me now is not the same me as before ;)


Life is good when we don't have to eat watermelons all the way to the green bits :)



la papillion said...

Hi SMOL,

Haha, life is a cycle of ups and downs :) In physics, there is even a term for that, called 'in phase'. Particles that are 'in phase' are defined by 2 characteristics: (1) same position and (2) going in the same direction next. By freezing time and looking at any particular instant in time, we can only observe whether two particles are in the same position, not where they are going next. It's like we can't look at a picture and tell for sure where someone is going next!

Hence "Going up the mountain and coming down, I am at the same spot where I started at ground zero. But the me now is not the same me as before" makes perfect sense. You are at the same spot but the direction you are going is not the same, hence the two 'you' are not 'in phase'.

Okay, too enthu about science already lol

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