Creating a Wish List
A wish list is an outlet for your hot little fingers and creative mind while you're in a spending freeze. The basic idea is that you write down everything you'd ever like to buy. The list may range from a new TV to whitening strips for your teeth to a sailboat. Anything you're not allowed to buy during a spending freeze is fair game. Nothing on the list has to be sensible or practical or a wise financial decision.
Sometimes when you're not spending, you feel disconnected from our consumer-oriented society, and a wish list makes you feel like your old self again. When you feel the itch to spend, go online or look at a friend's catalogs and write down the item number, description, page number, and so on of any item that looks interesting.
Act as if you're really going to buy the item. But don't. Just add the item to your list and let the list sit for a while. The act of writing the item down will feel, strangely enough, very similar to how you feel when you actually buy something. It sounds completely crazy, but it works!
When you brainstorm your wish list, think pie-in-the-sky. You're just daydreaming right now — later, you can make your list more realistic. So write down whatever you can imagine in your future. But make sure it's your wish list. Don't put a sailboat on your list if you really don't like water!
Paring Down the Wish List
Just listing the items can be cathartic when you want to buy, buy, buy. But listing the items on WORKSHEET 5-2 can also help you cross some items off the list. When you write down an item's name and cost, also check off one of the three needs categories: “Need Today,” “Need This Month,” or “Would Like Someday.” If none applies, don't check anything off.
Tomorrow, revisit any item that you indicated you needed today. Is the need still strong? In a month, review any items that you needed this month, and also look at the items that you'd like someday. Do you still feel strongly about them? Cross off any item you no longer feel you need and/or check off new categories for some items.
Item Name |
Cost |
Need Today? |
Need This Month? |
Would Like Someday? |
$ |
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Reviewing a Sample Wish List
Your wish list may look like TABLE 5-3:
Item Name |
Cost |
Need Today? |
Need This Month? |
Would Like Someday? |
Smoothie maker |
$30 |
✓ |
||
Honda Element |
$26,000 |
✓ |
||
Garden arbor |
$275 |
✓ |
||
New luggage |
$350 |
✓ |
||
Two pairs of jeans |
$130 |
✓ |
||
iPod |
$249 |
✓ |
||
Cabin in the woods |
$210,000 |
✓ |
Now, suppose 30 days have gone by, and the list looks like TABLE 5-4:
Item Name |
Cost |
Need Today? |
Need This Month? |
Would Like Someday? |
Smoothie maker |
$30 |
✓ |
||
Honda Element |
$26,000 |
✓ |
||
One pair of jeans |
$65 |
✓ |
||
iPod |
$249 |
✓ |
||
Cabin in the woods |
$210,000 |
✓ |
Item Name |
Cost |
Need Today? |
Need This Month? |
Would Like Someday? |
Smoothie maker |
$30 |
✓ |
||
One pair of jeans |
$65 |
✓ |
||
iPod |
$249 |
✓ |
At this point, you've narrowed your list to items you would clearly like to own and can begin to save for when your spending freeze is over. You also have a ready-made list if anyone asks you what you really want for your birthday.
