LWL10. Needs vs. Wants
CHECK-IN – Maximum time 20 minutes.
Mindfulness: Take a break from what you have been doing, breathe deeply, relax and recharge.
Step 1: Find a comfortable seated position with both feet grounded on the floor. Put a hand on your stomach. Close your eyes.
Step 2: Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Notice your thoughts and feelings and any tensions in your body.
Step 3: As you inhale and exhale, breathe deeply so your belly fills and empties with air. The hand on your stomach helps you practice belly – not chest breathing.
Step 4: For the next two minutes make breathing in and out your only focus. Let your thoughts come and go without trying to control them. If you find an area of tension in your body, relax it and let the tension go.
Step 5: At the end of the two minutes slowly open your eyes. Gently bring your presence back to your surroundings.
Gratitude: Taking time every day to be grateful can help our health, relationships, emotions and happiness. What is something you are grateful for this week? (Everyone in group shares.)
Review “How Are We Doing?” worksheet. (Led by loved one with behavioral health disorder.)
· Past week’s recovery activities.
· Goals for next week.
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SKILL FOR A LIFE WORTH LIVING – Maximum time 20 minutes
Discuss: How did you benefit from working on last week’s commitments? (Everyone in group shares.)
Think: What behaviors or choices keep me from doing a better job with my money?
Money plays a critical role in our lives. Many people report they worry about money more than their own health, careers or love life. Financial worries can cause problems in marriages and social lives, along with headaches, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. Keeping track of expenses, making a budget, and sticking to it are important skills to have in order to be finically responsible and independent. When we are in debt to creditors, family members or friends it can feel like our time is spent working just to repay them. Learning how to maximize your financial wellness now will help you feel prepared to handle potentially stressful financial situations in the future.
Five ways to change how we use our money are listed below. While we're reading, think about the good things that could happen in our lives if we followed them.
A. Work hard and work smart to make money. Income
B. Give back. Donate to a good charitable or religious cause.
C. Pay ourselves. Savings.
D. Spend less money than we get and avoid debt.
E. Focusing on needs: rent, food, transportation, etc.
Discuss: As a group let's talk about some of the good ideas, we have to live these four ways.
Financial wellness includes learning to determine what our needs and wants are. At first glance that seems easy. Our needs are things we must have to sustain us day to day: food, shelter, clothing, personal care items, and in most cases reliable transportation. Just about everything else can be classified as a want (though might seem like a need) – entertainment, electronics, leisure travel, the list of things we want is potentially endless.
We have become a culture of want, addicted to the rush of newness and convinced it’s the road to happiness. With help we can change how we use our money by working to make a plan to pay for what we need first before buying any of our wants. Here are a few ideas to help us start making that change.
Take Inventory. Look around and evaluate everything you already have. Chances are you’re far exceeding your basic needs in almost every area. Work on cultivating a grateful attitude and appreciating relationships and experiences, more than material things.
Avoid Impluses. Advertising — in all its forms — is designed to make us want. Avoid it as much as possible by unsubscribing from retailers’ promotional emails, recording television shows and skipping through commercials, and carefully choosing the online content you consume. Break the habit of going digital ‘window shopping’ when you’re bored. Also be aware of how you respond to ads in your social media feeds. They are designed to make you buy without thinking about it. If you see something you’re interested in, take note of it, but wait to buy. Chances are you won’t even remember it tomorrow.
Practice the One-In-One-Out Rule. Successful minimalists live by this concept. It simply means that any time you bring a new item into your home, you must get rid of one that’s the same or similar. So, new pair of shoes, old pair of shoes out. New baseball cap in, old baseball cap out. You get the idea. It will be easy at first, since most of us have plenty to get rid of. But as you pare down your stuff to items you truly value and enjoy, you’ll be less inclined to toss them for something new. One-in-one out is an effective tool for managing needs vs. wants.
When you start thinking about potential purchases in terms of needs and wants, you’ll start making more thoughtful financial choices.
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COMMIT & CELEBRATE
Commitments. This week I will:
· Complete the Spending Patterns Worksheet, write down what I spend each day this week.
· Work with others on my finances.
Benefits from keeping commitments:
· Understand why and what you spend money on.
· Sharing pleasant recreational activities helps keep us close and can become a buffer for negative interactions that can be part of any relationship.
Watch: Lyric video. (Video that reinforces this week’s topic.)
NEEDS VS. WANTS SPENDING WORKSHEET
Completing the table below will help understand your needs vs wants spending patterns.
Step 1: Choosing from these financial categories write down what you spent on a daily basis -- Housing, Transportation, Food, Utilities, Insurance, Medical & Healthcare, Saving, Investing, & Debt Payments, Personal Spending, Recreation & Entertainment, Miscellaneous.
Step 2: Write a N" next to things that were "needs" write a "W" next to the things you bought that were "wants".
Step 3: Draw a "star" next to the things you can spend less money on.
Category | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
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