About

My name is Eric and I launched NeedsOrWants.com on July 28th 2008.

I started this site because I like to share helpful information with people, this may be in part due to my career as a full time college faculty member.

Without trying to come off as being presumptuous, I’ve always seemed to make the choices that put me ahead of other people, particularly those who share my demographic group. I’ve been asked what the secret to my success is and some people have even stated that I have incredible luck. I don’t think it’s about luck, at least for the majority of my success, but as far as a secret to success, it is quite simple:

I have always tried to put my needs before my wants.

What I mean here is that I’ve always stopped and thought about situations where I have a choice, the choice may seem important or unimportant at the time. I was provided with some helpful advice at an early age:

The decisions you make today will affect you for the rest of your life.

Before I make any decision, I stop and think how this decision will not only affect me (and my family), but my future self as well, say a year or ten years from now.

I ultimately put the needs of my future self before the wants I have today.

That may seem too simple, but I am a big fan of simple things. Every complex idea or activity is comprised of many simple things. If you can build a foundation of simple ideas, the complex ones won’t seem so complex anymore.

So what do I want to share with readers through the articles I write here at NeedsOrWants.com? It’s really going to depend on what is important to me. That’s because:

What matters to me might also matter to you.

Topics that I can foresee writing about are:

  • Resisting temptations that can turn into bad decisions
  • Personal Finance
  • Frugality and Saving
  • Emergency Planning and Preparedness
  • Economic woes
  • Productivity tips
  • Help with Procrastination
  • Important Social Issues
  • Politics and Policy (typically only as they apply to the topics above)

So what do I get out of this? Well I stated earlier that I like to share helpful information with other people. What I didn’t mention is that I consider myself to be a lifelong learner. I love learning new things, and I also like to hear differing opinions, especially those that may strongly contrast my own.

NOTE: At this point you should realize that when I refer to society, I’m referring to our global society, or humanity in general if that makes more sense to you.

As a society, we must not just be tolerant to the ideas of others, but we must respect the ideals/thoughts of others and spend a few minutes to listen, consider, and possibly even challenge them in a tactful way. In my opinion, this is the only way we can advance towards our goals and aspirations. Tolerance is not the same thing as respect, tolerance implies that we have to put up with people, it does not convey any respect.

So please, post your comments to the articles I write and to the comments that other readers share. This will help motivate me in continuing to write, share, and learn.

Thanks,

Eric

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