15 Examples of Differences Between Needs and Wants
Remembering the difference between needs and wants is tough, but developing healthy financial habits can help.
العربية
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It can be tricky to tell the difference between what we need and what we simply want.
This is especially true in the UAE, where a thriving consumer culture encourages spending on luxuries and non-essentials. “How can I tell the difference between need and want?” is a question many UAE residents ask themselves daily.
Distinguishing between needs and wants is an important personal finance skill. Understanding the key differences allows us to make smarter choices about where to allocate our money and resources.
In a consumption-focused society like the UAE, prioritizing fundamental human needs over non-essential wants is important for individuals to meet their basic physiological and psychological needs.
Living in the UAE makes it difficult for the following reasons:
Yet UAE residents looking to improve their personal finance habits and build savings might be surprised at how easy it is to get started.
We’ve put together a useful guide as a starting point for anyone wishing to create a savings pot for essential items, including using the latest financial technology to develop healthy financial habits.
In this guide, we’ll cover the following:
[Make saving a regular habit and visually track the growth of your savings through Maly, the money management app made for the UAE market.]
Before diving into needs and wants examples, it’s helpful to outline the difference between need and want in the context of personal finances.
Needs describe the essential goods and services required to support a human being's basic functioning and well-being. Meeting needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, and education allows humans to meet their core physiological requirements.
Wants, in contrast, provide non-essential items that offer psychological benefits for humans rather than physical necessities. Examples of wants include vacations, luxury vehicles, and fine dining experiences.
The main difference between need and want is that needs, if unmet, pose threats to human life and health. Wants fulfill social and psychological needs rather than ensuring basic survival. While wants can have a significant impact on the quality of life, not having them will not critically endanger human beings.
It can also be challenging to highlight the difference between the needs and wants for kids and teenagers. Some examples of kids' needs include clothing, food, healthcare, education supplies, and transport. Wants for kids may include toys, games, entertainment such as movies or theme parks, and treats like candy or fast food.
As kids get older, their wants tend to increase as they become more aware of brands and desires for the latest gadgets, video games, or fashionable clothing. However, it’s essential for parents to meet fundamental needs before indulging kids' wants. Communicating budget limits and the difference between need and want helps children develop responsible financial habits from a young age.
With that in mind, the following sections aim to illustrate the difference between need and want through 15 examples of common consumer expenditure in the UAE.
The UAE is famous for its diverse range of housing options, from luxury penthouses to basic apartments.
Renting an expensive apartment in Downtown Dubai is a want. Alternatively, leasing a flat in a less central but more affordable area meets the basic requirements for shelter.
Despite the expensive housing costs in the UAE, and Dubai in particular, Emilie Davies, a healthcare expert living in the UAE, says, “Dubai actually offers fantastic options and variations of living conditions for people of all social and economic status.”
According to Bayut, there is a diverse range of apartment rentals in Downtown Dubai, with an average price of AED 232k per annum. Living in downtown Dubai has these high costs due to the luxury and vibrant lifestyle around, with access to many entertainment facilities.
However, there are popular, affordable areas for Dubai apartment rentals, including International City, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Investments Park, Al Warsan, Liwan, Al Muhaisnah, and Satwa, with rents from AED 30,000-62,000 per annum depending on size. These neighborhoods have more space for families and are much quieter than downtown Dubai.
Getting around Dubai includes everything from public transit, like the inexpensive yet expansive bus and metro networks, to private options like rideshares, rental cars, and even luxury yacht charters.
For daily commutes, Nol pay-as-you-go cards keep fares low on public transportation in Dubai. While it doesn’t have a car's door-to-door convenience, the city’s bus and tram networks are uncrowded and have air conditioning that makes travel comfortable.
Taxis satisfactorily bridge the public-private divide with base fares of 12 AED, while rideshares like Uber and Careem offer another competitively priced alternative, but using these regularly should be considered a ‘want’ rather than a ‘need’.
Dubai's reputation as a luxury retail mecca comes with high price tags. Yet there are many fashion options, including secondhand clothing, that meet the most basic needs and fit into the average shopping budget.
Prioritizing functional staples from budget retailers like Brands For Less is the best way to stay within a clothing budget. Adewale Adelani, a UAE marketing consultant, recommends “Dubai Outlet Mall for heavily discounted couture frocks” and “The Blue Souk in Sharjah for gifts with local flair.”
The cost of food and grocery shopping in the UAE can add up quickly if not carefully managed. For needs-based shopping, focus on whole foods that provide nutrients and fuel for daily activities. Food markets like DragonMart offer affordable fresh produce, grains, proteins, and dairy supplies that allow individuals to maintain a healthy life on a reasonable budget.
Shopping for local supermarkets' house brands is another way to minimize the costs of pantry staples. When it comes to wants, there are still ways to satisfy cravings without breaking the bank. For example, Global Village offers a fun, budget-friendly way to sample international street foods.
It’s important to keep emotions in check when buying electronic goods. Abhishek Datta, a Dubai-based financial advisor, says, “You need to be extremely self-aware, not letting emotions get the better of you when you are handling money.”
Owning cutting-edge gadgets like the new iPhone solely for prestige is a want. However, maintaining a basic smartphone and laptop still keeps you connected and able to communicate with people.
Online retailers provide more modest models that are still excellent value for money, and local stores offer financing at affordable rates.
Sharaf DG, Jacky’s Electronics, and JUMBO Electronics are a few examples that offer some of the best electronics deals in the UAE.
Luxurious Dubai getaways like seven-star holidays cater to travel wants, but we can still have a great time on a smaller budget.
Local UAE staycations offer an affordable way to meet needs for rest and family connection. Public transit, like Dubai's extensive bus and metro, minimizes the costs of city hopping. Rental cars open the door to affordable desert safaris and trips to sites like the heritage oasis in Al Ain.
For international travel, journalist Deepthi Nair recommends “choosing a destination where the currency is weaker than the place where you live and work.” She says, “As the UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, residents can use favorable exchange rates to travel to countries where the purchasing power of the dirham is higher.” Possible destinations include Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Malaysia.
Beauty and grooming in UAE often straddle the needs vs wants divide depending on individual circumstances. Certain job expectations may require frequent salon visits, while discretionary treatments, like spa and cosmetic procedures, feed desires over essentials.
Luckily, extensive competition among Dubai's many world-class salons creates regular cuts, styling, manicures, and more promotions. Ladies' nights, for example, offer female customers dramatic discounts or even free treatments.
While furniture is essential, spending on extravagant accessories is a want rather than a need.
Numerous affordable UAE décor brands like PAN Emirates, West Elm, and Homes R Us offer statement pieces blending modern styling with budget pricing. Buying secondhand is also far more cost-effective.
Establishing clear priorities and resisting overspending helps balance wants and needs when decorating on a budget.
Maintaining fitness and health might be a need for some and a want for others.
Affordable sports facilities in Dubai, like Gold’s Gym, Unifit Gym, and The Big Gym, offer memberships ranging from AED 99 to AED 150 per month. Meanwhile, premium clubs demand customers splurge around AED 350 monthly.
Customers must consider how frequently they will use the facilities, their location, and preferred classes when choosing their leisure club.
While physical wellness is crucial, overextending financially is a high price to pay for physical gains.
Luxury attractions and premier leisure offerings fall into wants instead of needs in leisure-focused Dubai. Yet many family-friendly recreational sites offer affordable rates or even free admission. Parks, beaches, souks, and museums offer economical options to experience the city.
Sophia Bhatti, a Certified Chartered Wealth Manager living in Dubai, also recommends “Using discount services like Groupon, Cobone, and The Entertainer,” pointing out that they “are a great way of saving a few 100 dirhams.”
Social interaction is very important, but Dubai's glamorous image fuels excessive entertaining wants that strain wallets.
Extravagances like lavish house parties and indulgent restaurant dining are attractive but they can easily burn through your monthly salary.. Sticking to casual meetups in public parks, beaches, malls, or homes are cheap but still allow us to have a healthy social life.
Subscription services that directly support essential lifestyle functions like Carrefour UAE or supermarket for grocery delivery or a single streaming platform for regular entertainment, like Shahid or Netflix, should be considered needs.
On the other hand, subscriptions providing duplicate content across multiple platforms, product boxes, and non-essential delivery apps are more wants than needs, especially when we don’t fully use them.
Purchasing a flashy luxury new car is definitely a want while buying a practical car still serves important transport needs.
Affordable vehicle options are very common, including the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, Nissan Sunny, and Suzuki Swift, to name a few, with price tags ranging from AED 60,000 to AED 87,000.
It’s also helpful to plan car-related payments using designated cards for transportation, gasoline, and repairs, which can spread out these costs while providing a clear payment overview.
But it’s not just about buying a vehicle; renting luxury cars is also a want more than a need. Sometimes, buying an economical car is a better investment option than renting a luxury one.
Shopping is a leading leisure activity in the UAE, but consumers must diligently manage spending. Air-conditioned malls offer vast retail therapy but often at inflated prices.
Meanwhile, outdoor markets like Souqs are more budget-friendly options. For value, open-air markets are the better choice for daily needs.
Shoppers will often find similar goods at sometimes half the cost of malls. Bargaining is also an acceptable practice to reduce bills further. Don't hesitate to browse multiple stalls for the best deals.
Drugstore brands offer quality makeup and skincare at lower prices, compared to high-end brands found in luxury malls and fashion boutiques.
International affordable brands like Essence and Wet ‘n’ Wild produce pigmented eyeshadows and lipsticks for under AED 20 each. Popular UAE brands like Debela 18 offer comparable quality at competitive prices.
For skincare, brands like Nivea offer effective cleansers, moisturizers, and SPF options from AED 20-50. Investing in multi-purpose products like tinted moisturizers or treatment sprays that can double as a primer or refreshing mist saves money compared to buying separate items.
In the consumerism-fueled UAE, it's easy to overspend on non-essential luxuries. Keeping in mind the difference between needs and wants allows us to improve our financial decision-making and make our budget last for longer.
To make this task easier, a new wave of digital financial planning solutions, with features for automated savings and card-based budgeting help individuals and families manage their spending.
A leading example is Maly, a money management mobile application developed specifically for the UAE market to help residents with their personal finances. Some of its key features are the following:
Maly users can start saving money without actively thinking about it, reach financial goals easier, get insights into their spending habits, and develop better financial management skills.
Maly’s full financial overview gives customers control over their personal finances so that having enough money for their ‘needs’ in life is easy. With sensible budgeting and smart savings, you might also be able to treat yourself to a ‘want’ every now and then, too.
[Looking to set up a weekly or monthly savings plan? Simply connect Maly to any UAE-based bank and start tracking your savings as they grow.]
Download the Maly app by clicking on one of the buttons below and get started in just a few minutes
