On July Fourth, celebrate freedom from 'wants'
Posted
Jul 02 2008, 12:06 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Last July, I was in debt. This year I don't owe a thing. That's the kind of independence I'll be celebrating this Friday: freedom from obligation. And to paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt, I'll also be celebrating freedom from wants.
"Freedom from want," according to FDR's famous Four Freedoms speech, means "economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants." I'd like to define that further. To me, a "healthy peacetime life" means having my needs met and my wants under control.
The way FDR used it, "want" is a noun that means a lack of basic necessities. These days we're much more likely to use "want" as a verb -- and we don't just apply it to the basics. We want huge cars, designer labels, showpiece houses, the coolest technology.
Oh, and we want it now.
I'm not against wanting things. I just think we should be careful about how we go about getting them.
To want is human
I want a home of my own. Someday I'll have one. But not today, and tomorrow's not looking good either. Until I am able to change my situation, I'll plan and save.
I also want to travel. Due to personal circumstances, that's not in the cards right now. Until it is, I'll just keep wanting it. That's not the end of the world.
Neither of these desires is selfish. Both are probably attainable. And both of them are worth waiting for, I think.
The things we want are goals. We can work toward them. It's when we start to think of these wants as needs that we're liable to make dumb choices to get them. Think "subprime mortgage."
Buy now, pay for years?
Sometimes the need-want line is blurry. You need shelter, whether it's renting an apartment or buying a house. You probably don't need a five-bedroom behemoth in the suburbs even though everyone else -- especially builders and lenders -- seems to think you do. But homeownership isn't for everyone, and it's definitely not for those who can't really swing the loan. (See "subprime mortgage," above.)
You need food and clothing. You can and should do this within your means. Using credit cards for expensive restaurant meals and $1,000 jeans is like offering yourself up as an indentured servant. High interest rates mean that you'll spend years and years paying for your freedom, and always on someone else's terms.
On Friday, join me in a declaration of personal independence by resolving to make smarter financial decisions. Start by remembering to be grateful for what you have instead of dwelling on what you don't. Our true needs are pretty basic. Just ask anyone for whom "want" is a noun.
