Want is not the same as need

People ask me how I don't spend a great amount of money. Now, I'm no Calvinist or anything, but I still work hard and I don't splash out (a great majority of the time) on things I don't need. New shoes? I have eight pairs of shoes. That's enough. I mean, if you can find pieces of clothing that don't look awful with other pieces of clothing, then it's a plus because you can use them over and over again. And there's no issue in that.

SELF CONTROL
Huge amounts of self control. I want cookies? I think for a long time about whether I should really get them or not. I mean, for one thing, it's money spent on something I could probably make at home. Secondly, I don't know what's in them- often they don't have ingredients written on the packaging. Thirdly, I know that cookies are not (unfortunately) a staple part of the human diet. So, they should be eaten in moderation. When I go to buy things in the supermarket I wonder whether they are necessary. Is that bag of cookies a necessity? Of course not. Put it back.

One of my mottos is that want is not the same thing as need. Some things you should need before you get them, like food. Eating because you want to eat is never clever. Other things... It's a situation of want. Boyfriends, for example. Nobody should NEED a boyfriend. It's very important to be able to be happy without someone there, obviously. Human beings are well-adapted and developed and on an evolutionary basis, they don't particularly need to be paired all the time. That being said, meeting someone who makes you happy is really, really important, if you're doing the dating thang. That's no typo, I do mean thang. It's got a nice twang to it.

Anyway, when you want something, it's akin to saying, I'd be okay without it, but for the sake of my own happiness, I'll obtain or attain it anyway. Like, I want three As in my A-Levels. I need two As and a B, but I want three As. Wanting things is just saying, the situation is adequate but I'd like to improve it beyond how pleasing it currently is. Do you "need" a new pair of shoes? Or do you want to buy a new pair because you feel like it? I never replace shoes until they're unwearable. The shoes I'm wearing today are three years old. They're still watertight, they're still warm, they still fit, and they're still comfy. And they don't look particularly shabby either, which brings me nicely to my next point.

STOP BUYING SHIT CLOTHES, ETC.!
My GOD it is infuriating when people complain they don't have enough space in their wardrobe or drawers. Take all the stuff out, sort through it. What you don't need or want goes to charity. What no longer fits, goes to charity. Is it broken? Yes? Can you repair it? No? Throw it out.
Adolescents the world over need to do something very very easy. Boycott Primark. For god's sake, why buy things that are not good quality? I'd rather save up for a nice warm hoodie than buy one now which is cold and uncomfortable. This looking to the future is called "deferred gratitude". It's a sociological way of saying, "wait for it and it'll be more enjoyable". And it's true, tried and tested. You want to watch a DVD but you need to get that coursework done? Want shouldn't come before need. I've always found that waiting for things I want makes me appreciate them more, anyway. Or I lose interest and don't want them any more, which is a win-win, because everything I want (clothes, lunch, snacks, sports, leisure activities etc., etc.) I pay for.

I've been working two jobs for four months and I've earnt a great deal more than I've spent, and I'm proud, because it means there's money here for when I really NEED something. I'm prepared.