Needs and Wants Sorting Worksheet

Who this is for

Sort your spending before you cut it. List each regular outgoing with its monthly cost, mark it as a need, a want or somewhere in between, and write what it could come down to and what you have decided.

Anyone trying to trim their outgoings, households whose costs have risen faster than their income, and families teaching older children the difference between what is needed and what is chosen.

What this helps you track

• Every regular outgoing and what it costs a month
• Which lines are needs, which are wants and which are flexible
• What each line could be reduced to
• The subtotals for needs, wants and flexible spending
• What to cut, keep or look at again later

How to use it

1. Write your name and the month, then list every regular outgoing from your bank statements, including subscriptions and annual costs worked out per month.
2. Tick one box per line: need, want, or flexible for costs that are necessary but could be cheaper.
3. Where a line could cost less, write the lower figure you think is realistic.
4. Choose a decision for each line: keep, reduce, cut or review later.
5. Add up each group and write the subtotals in the summary table, before and after your changes.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What is the flexible column for?

Costs that are needed in some form but not at the current price or level, such as a phone contract, the food shop or an insurance policy that could be switched. Those lines are often where most savings are found.

Who decides what counts as a need?

You do. The sheet takes no view; what is essential depends on your household, health, work and commitments. If two people disagree about a line, mark it flexible and review it together.

Why not work out the subtotals automatically?

The printable and browser versions leave them to you so the sheet stays simple and each line is looked at once more as you add it. A calculator will do the sums in moments.

How often should I do this?

Whenever your costs or income change, or when a budget keeps running short. Many people repeat it after a few months to see whether the decisions held.