Are you sure? How do my partner and I divide up our wants vs. our needs?
When it comes to wants and needs, you and your partner may have very different ideas about how to categorize your purchases. What you consider a necessity – a certain brand of shampoo, cereal or motor oil – may seem frivolous to your spouse. Before bringing up what you think was an unnecessary purchase your partner made, it’s probably best to take a look at your own checkbook.
From there, you and your sweetheart can take a hard look at trimming extra expenses together. Basics like food, shelter (including utilities) and reliable transportation definitely fall into the “needs” category. Frequent eating out, cable television and new wardrobes do not. A good way to separate the two is to set a tighter monthly budget.
Staying within these confines will force you both to ask yourselves, “Do I really need this?”