Do I Need It? or Do I Want It?: Making Budget Choices

Lightning Bolt Books ® - Exploring Economics

by Jennifer S. Larson

Do You plan how much money you'll use to buy candy? or how much you'll save for a new video game? Then you're budgeting! A budget is a plan for spending and saving. Budgets help people decide how to use their money wisely. What do you want? And how can you make a budget? Read this book to find out.

Learn all about how we earn, spend, and save in the Exploring Economics series-part of the Lightning Bolt Books collection. With high-energy designs, exciting photos, and fun text, Lightning Bolt Books bring nonfiction topics to life!

Genres: Money, Economics, Childrens, Picture Books, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative perhaps, but I really cannot consider either Jennifer F. Larson's text or the accompanying photographs all that engaging in and of themselves. For while this book might indeed work well enough in an elementary school classroom as a basic and simple economics/finance textbook, for general interest, Do I Need It? Do I want it?: Making Budget Choices really does seem to move along, to read, somewhat too monotonously, and thus, at least in my opinion, rather majorly fails with regard to making the essential and necessary concept of financial literacy interesting and worthy of consideration for and to many children (especially those children who have little natural interest in concepts of finance, budgetary choices, economics and the like will or at least could find the plodding general nature of the narrative and the rather mundane and stagnant photographs uninspiring, uninteresting and lacking).

I also have to rather wonder at some of the presented, depicted divisions of wants and needs. Yes, a bicycle is more a want than basic food and shelter (which are necessary for survival). However, if, say, a person's job depended upon having a bicycle, that bicycle would then and of course no longer be a mere want, but turn into a legitimate need, an actual requirement (food for thought and discussion, with no pun intended either). And why, since Do I Need It? Do I want It? is first and foremost an educational book, are neither diagrams, graphs nor suggestions for exercises and activities included (all of which would increase teaching and learning values and potential)? 2.5 stars, rounded up to a low and grudging 3 star rating, as I do appreciate the importance of the information, the details featured, and much commend author Jennifer S. Lawson for having provided a bibliography with suggestions for further reading (and as this unfortunately is still often the exception rather than the rule in children's non fiction, it therefore and definitely needs to be positively encouraged, celebrated and acknowledged).

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Do I Need It? or Do I Want It?" Ah, so important for children (and adults!) to learn the real answer to these questions as we are faced with spending decisions. I was excited about this book but left feeling a bit disappointed. It is a decent introduction to budgeting for kids, but it just skims the surface and presents a few examples that could be puzzling to some families. I felt the photos and text were a bit bland, as well.

A few of the examples are pretty indisputable. "Candy is a want." Yeah, our bodies don't need candy!

But some examples a bit more open to discussion:

"A bicycle is a want." Well, yes, if considering a bicycle for recreational purposes. But many people (children and adults) use bicycles as a primary mode of transportation and, in this case, it is no more a "want" than a car would be. Again, some context would be nice.

"A place to live is a need." That is true. The accompanying photo shows a family looking at a nice new house. "A home is a need." We all need a home, but not everyone lives in a nice new house. Many homes have "wants" attached to them. Perhaps this is too complex for the scope of this book, but a good discussion point if sharing with children especially if they are from diverse socio-economic groups.

I also felt a few of the photographs could have been better chosen, or had more text. I like that the book shows "Many people share their money with other people who need it" but, again, felt like more could have been said here. The Salvation Army-type collection bucket may not be recognizable to all children, either.

I also think more discussion is needed as to why one would want to put money in a bank vs. keepint it at home.

Anyway, all in all it's a decent brief introduction but you might need to bring a lot to it if you're sharing it with kids.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an elementary teacher, I think this is a great introduction to the economics unit I teach. Most of the concepts I am supposed to teach (wants vs. needs, goods and services, saving, spending, budgets) are introduced as well as much of the vocabulary. I don't think this book will capture many children's attention as a book to read independently but it seems like a great resource for parents or teachers.

It is obviously just an introduction to these topics and additional reading, discussion and activities will be needed. In addition, the book does seem very geared to middle or even upper middle class suburban families (based on the photos chosen). In one photo, the family is looking to purchase a nice home. Another photo shows a family in a living room with white furniture and nice furnishings. It would be nice if a greater diversity of socioeconomic levels had been pictured. But again, I think this could be used as a point of discussion. I do appreciate that it includes a glossary and suggestions for further reading. While perhaps not the most engaging book, I do think it is a valuable resource.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an informative, but not overwhelmingly engaging book about spending and explaining needs and wants.

The font is big and the narrative is short, and there are many colorful photographs, but I couldn't help but think that the book should engage the reader more, by perhaps challenging them or asking more questions.

I did this on my own; we discussed the topics and personalized the goals as we read the book. We have already established habit patterns of creating four pots of money - long-term savings, short-term savings, donations, and spending.

That way our girls have a basis for saving up for short and long-term goals. We enjoyed reading this book together.

This book was selected as one of the books for the September 2016- Financial Literacy discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[SamZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. It's a great intro to money and budgeting, perfect for kids who need to learn about saving vs. spending. I would totally use this with my 7 year old, or any kid who is old enough to earn money and needs to learn about saving. I especially liked the pages that talked about not buying candy with all your money; maybe buy one piece and then save the rest. Identifying the differences between a need and a want was appreciated, and I also liked the real life applications of budgets and saving: car troubles, school budgets, vacations, and trampolines.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this may not be the most exciting book in the world, I sure wish it had been published back when my kids were in primary school. This book is simple enough to share with young students, to help them understand how money works, and why we can't always buy everything that we want. The discussion of needs versus wants is important to share with young children. The photos may have been stock photos, but they were inclusive of different ethnicities.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very formal and informative. Describes the difference between need and want and how to keep a budget. I would suggest this for middle school students. To give them an idea of money and that it doesn't grow on trees as many kids may believe.

[Private Account · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept for this book is only okay, and it is poorly executed. A much better book - and much better executed - is Escape the Rat Race, which I read to my son for the first time when he was four. He loved it and now, at six, he saves 90% of his income - not to buy a camera or a bike as this book suggests one saves money for - but to buy assets like houses and apartment buildings. If you have read Escape the Rat Race or any of Robert Kiyosaki's work (like Rich Dad Poor Dad) then you will understand what I mean when I say that Do I Need It? Or Do I Want It? is for future poor people. So if that is your dream for your kid, then by all means, read your kid this book....

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright. It'll be a good book for young children if they get allowances or if they want to learn how to budget or what a budget is. The book has a lot of photographs which took up a lot of the page most of the time. I can't decide if that annoyed me or not.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good explanation of money and budgets. Ryan knew a lot of the terminology and the reasons for the decisions. Our lessons on budgeting are paying off.

[Tenille Tsujimoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great go teach young kids about the concepts of money and budgeting. This is not for adults. It's very basic reading.

[Yasmin Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great children's introduction to spending. recommended for kids who are starting to understand the concept of wanting things and how money works and making great financial decisions

[Jessica Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great resource for many economics lessons such as wants vs needs, allowances, budgets, saving and spending, and goods and services. This is an important concept for young readers to learn so it could be used for K-1 grade but also would be a good reminder for older students when introducing the topics of economics or government.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for many economics lessons such as wants vs needs, allowances, budgets, saving and spending, and goods and services. Easy read that's geared towards developing readers, but will be good for intermediate introductions as well.

[Cheryl Kays · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, we learn the differences in what we want and what we need in life. This is an important idea for students to learn in the classroom. This book can be paired with other books/lessons that incorporate communities and economics.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice, simple introduction to money and budgeting for kids.

[Carlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to saving money, creating a budget and wants vs. needs.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great informational book for grade-schoolers on distinguishing between wants and needs, knowing the difference between goods and services, and learning how to create a personal budget.

[Suzy Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect level for my 6 year old to understand

[Megan Bratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to saving money, creating a budget and wants vs. needs.

[Angelica Cowart · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great book that children could learn how to save money in the future. Teaches them the difference between a need and a want. I think third to fourth grade is when I would add this to my book shelves.