How to decide between needs and wants

My biggest struggle when I first started using the grocery smarts website and coupons was deciding what was a need and what was a want. It definitely helped that I avoided Wal-mart like the plague once I got going because their prices are fairly cheap for all items and so I would often buy items that I didn't absolutely have to have but thought it would be nice to have and hey it's affordable so why not buy it? But at a grocery store you are less tempted to buy items that aren't on your list because regular price is so expensive! Of course I still had to run to Wal-mart because I ran out of items that hadn't been on sale yet but I was much more determined to buy only what was on the list because I was then in the habit of only buying what was on my list and not bothering to browse the aisles. Now, I can't remember the last time I went to wal-mart because I have been using coupons long enough that I am well stocked on most items.

So back to the original question how do you decide between a want and a need? As a beginning couponer it all felt so overwhelming to me! The first thing to remember is the stores sale rotations, which basically means how often are items going to be on sale. For example, Pasta will be on sale at an incredibly low price once every 12 weeks. Keeping this in mind there were certain items that I knew I would never ever use and so it wasn't a temptation to buy (any and all seafood for example), but what about pasta when it goes on sale for 88 cents? Should I buy 10 packages of them because it is such a hot deal? Or should I buy 30? How do I decide? Well I bought 10 because we do love pasta at our house, but I know it will go on sale again in 12 weeks and I don't make it every week. If I made pasta more, then maybe I would have bought more but I figured I will make it once a week best case scenario so that would be 12 packages I would buy, however I know that more than likely there will be two weeks in there where I don't make any pasta especially since there wasn't any pasta sauce on sale at the time. Is this making sense? So the first thing to look at is will I use this item and how often will I use this item in the next 12 weeks? Don't just buy it because it is on sale and is a good deal and therefore you have to buy it.

My other saving grace is that I only use cash when I go to the store. If I know I only have $50.00 and I have to buy produce, meat and milk then I am going to budget in those items FIRST and the sale items next. If I miss out on a deal then IT IS O.K. BECAUSE IT WILL BE BACK IN 12 WEEKS!! Sometimes even sooner. Cereal is one item that is easy to pass on a deal for because it tends to go on sale more frequently than say pasta sauce so if I have to choose between cereal or pasta sauce and I only have 1 jar of pasta sauce in the pantry but 6 boxes of cereal that i bought from the last sale then I am going to use that money to stock up on pasta sauce.

Last but not least if it is something you have never tried but would like to then wait for it to be .50 or less because then it is like you pulled out two quarters from your change jar and if you don't like it it's not that big of a deal and if you do like it then SWEET! For example, I never buy disposable cleaning gloves because I think they are a waste of money, I have pretty good skin so cleaning doesn't bother me, but when playtex disposable gloves were on sale and I had a coupon that made them free I grabbed them because they didn't cost me anything and I do use them when I have them.

I have heard so many people tell me that they were buying things they would never use because it was on sale and I am telling you DON'T DO IT . . . JUST BACK AWAY FROM THE SALE ITEM AND SAVE YOURSELF THE $1.00. If you aren't going to use the item leave it for someone else to buy and only get what you will use.

How do you decipher between your wants and need?