Finding the Difference Between "Want" and "Need"

When you arrive on campus at Stanford University, you will be joining individuals who come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Distinguishing between a “want” and “need” will become challenging as the peers around you will each have different understandings of their personal wants and needs. The activities and products that fall into each category for you isn’t something we can tell you. However, we do recommend you figure this out for yourself as soon as possible.

Part of being on your own is figuring out what your specific wants and needs are and using a budget to work toward them. Start by sitting down and writing down your most basic needs and then the wants that feel like needs because they add more to your well-being than they cost. We would never suggest you live a life deprived of all wants; however, it is important that you recognize them as wants and that you understand how to live within your means.

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