Skip to main content

Needs vs Wants

Feature Request

Add a permanent attribute to each budget item to denote whether an expense could be considered a need or a want. A phase 1 virtualization would let people see in real dollar terms (and %) whether their spend is on necessities or wishes. This might assidt with improving spending and budget management. A future enhancement could offer a simulation engine to adjust needs vs wants to see how money could be adjusted to free up funds, meet goals or reduce budget shortfalls while still meeting needs.

Posted by SCrawford ·
1 comment

Log in to comment and vote

Comments1

  • team@waypointbudget

    Team•

    Oct 27

    Hi @SCrawford, there is something close to this in the app today, in case you have not seen it. On Reports there is a Fixed vs Flexible card that splits your spending into the two buckets, in dollars and as a share of the total. Categories are sorted automatically, and the Adjust button in the card’s header lets you move any category to the other side, so you can shape it into needs and wants if that is how you think about them.

    It is not a perfect match for what you described. Fixed and needs are not always the same thing (groceries are a need but flexible, a streaming subscription is fixed but a want), and the labels still say Fixed and Flexible. The simulation side is a bigger piece and not something we are starting on yet.

    Would the card cover what you were after if you could rename the two sides? Let me know and we will either close this one out or keep it open for a proper needs and wants attribute.