Necessities vs. Luxuries Quotes

My parents were working class folks. My dad was a bartender for most of his life, my mom was a maid and a cashier and a stock clerk at WalMart. We were not people of financial means in terms of significant financial means. I always told them, 'I didn't always have what I wanted. I always had what I needed.' My parents always provided that.

I do worry that we're failing in a whole bunch of fundamental ways to distinguish for our kids between needs and wants. And we're failing to distinguish between production and consumption.

I've never met a budget that I couldn't coax a few extra dollars from - and I'll bet that you can do the same. For instance, you're probably buying more minutes and more cable channels than you use. Oh, and how many black skinny jeans do I count in your closet? You have enough money, just the wrong priorities.

I love nice things - I consider Ralph Lauren sheets to be a necessity, not a luxury - but I've known what it's like to be poor.

I try to differentiate between what I need and don't need. I talk to my wife and children before buying things.

I think one of the biggest things is I wasn't spoiled as a kid. I got what I needed. I didn't always get what I wanted. But it's good to have what you need.

In life, you need a house and a car. After that, you have a choice.

Here's the thing that I think about life - if you manage to get into a space where you don't need that much, where the overhead of your life is not that great and you're pretty happy and relaxed without that much stuff, you are really liberated because you never have to say yes to something because you want another refrigerator or car!

I do not say a dollar a day is enough to support a working man, but it is enough to support a man. Not enough to support a man and five children if a man insists on smoking and drinking beer.

If you want something you can't afford, think what else that money could buy: a week's groceries, a month's rent, or a weekend away. That will put things into perspective.

Given the choice, children who don't want for anything will not save... We have an obligation as parents to give our children what they need. What they want we can give them as a special gift, or they can save their money for it.

The Republicans want to turn Social Security into a “no frills” program. The only problem is that the Republican idea of a frill is eating food.

When I was at art college, a can of Spray Mount adhesive cost £12: £2 more than my weekly food bill.

I don't really shop too much. I shop a few times a year.

Books on their own aren't insanely expensive compared to other things; three large cappuccinos cost more than a paperback, and two and a half gallons of gas cost more than a paperback.

Part of the budget should be used to purchase the items that you really need, such as a new coat or boots. Part of the budget should then be set aside to buy things you fall in love with and can't live without.

Maybe it's naive to say, but it almost seems like, in the past, people tried to sell you something you would actually need, like a hammer or a broom or a toothbrush. But now there's this notion that they can sell you anything. And all they have to do is convince you that you need it.

Produce what you consume; draw from the native element the necessaries of life. Permit no vitiated taste to lead you into the indulgence of expensive luxuries, which can only be obtained by involving yourselves in debt.

The great thing about money is that people can use it to buy things they need instead of things self-appointed experts think they need.

I'm not a big spender or shopper. Neither am I extravagant, nor do I have big expenses. I mainly spend on travel. I don't buy overpriced clothes, as I feel such expenses are unnecessary. I probably wouldn't buy expensive watches or jewellery either.

Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest.

I would rather have the costs of consumer goods and restaurants - products we as consumers can choose to buy or not buy - go up and the need for public services go down.

To grow up under really simple circumstances, and to understand that certain things were ornamental... that made an impression on me as a child and is something I use.

You're not a bad parent if you don't save for your kid's college because instead you had to choose to feed them and clothe them. Those things come first. They can go to school and do this thing called 'work' while they're in school.

I'm not materialistic. I love clothes and all that stuff, but I don't need it to live.