One of the things we did early on in CCSC was separating our "needs" from our "wants." In American culture things that are really "wants" are often perceived as "needs." These needs and wants can be material things or they can be other things like having free time or being in a romantic relationship. Differentiating between needs and wants helps when living on a small budget, and it also helps keep life simple. Sometimes when something stays on the "wants" list long enough, I decide I don't really want it that much after all.
There are a lot of things that I need and a lot of things that I want right now as I move into an apartment, start my new job, and shop for a car. Most of the things I'm worried about right now are material things because these are more basic than having my emotional needs met (basic Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs) . So, I made a list of "needs" and "wants" (both lists are pretty long) and then I put the needs into two categories: things I need right away and things I need, but can wait a little while. This is helping me to prioritize since I have very little money right now and, even though I have a job, I won't have a pay check for a while and even once I start getting paid, I won't be paid much.
A year ago I would have made a list with needs and wants all mixed up together and I might have gotten things in the order of how much I thought about them. For example, I really really want a haircut because my hair is driving me crazy, but I don't actually need one, so I'll wait until September or October once I get everything on my "needs" list. Although it's annoying to live with bad hair, it's more important that I get things like a bed, rain boots, and a sturdy umbrella that can handle the Buffalo wind (the wind broke two cheap ones last year).
It's interesting that one of the first things we talked about in CCSC is one of the first things I'm using post-CCSC to keep with the Simplicity pillar in my life.
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