Interesting article: consumerism and want vs. need

[jlai]

I think most of what I buy are want and not need. Take food for example, do I really need to buy the oven roasted chicken at the market for 7-8 $? Nope. I could've have easily bought a can of tuna for dinner for 97 cents and saved lots of cash.

Yup, though inour society many will consider fresh food a necessity
And yes it is always this "i am not as bad as my neighbor" mentality that justifies what we want and i do that too like eveyone else

[milanessa]

I don't think anyone is necessarily doing it wrong.

Why do think wrong had quotation marks?

[MacMadame]

I find that people can justify any thing they buy. it's always those other folks that are doing it "wrong" and don't understand their own actions.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

[sk8er1964]

I buy what I can afford, whether I need it or just want it. :shrug:
Although this discussion did make me take inventory of the rooms I am sitting in (I'm in the dining room wide open to the living room. Out of the main "stuff' in it I

bought new:
couch
television (on sale last Christmas )
tv stand
fish tank/stand
china cabinet
"dry sink"
computer
computer stand
stereo

bought used:
two end tables
computer chair

was gifted:
hanging lamp
table lamp
wine rack
cedar chest

inherited:
grandfather clock
recliner
dining room table and chairs
sewing machine (which I never use except to display pictures on )
rocking chair

So, eight things used (counting the dining table/chairs as one), four new gifts, and nine new bought by me. That's probably not too bad, considering three of the new things are electonics and therefore not sustainable.

[cruisin]

Why do think wrong had quotation marks?

I understood that, I was agreeing with you.

[jlai]

One thing that encourages consumerism is living in a house and losing track of whether you have something. How many people (including me and my family) have trouble finding something, go out and get one, just to discover you actually have the item in question in the first place? Then we find ourselves having ten staplers, 50 pencils, 40 pens....(Today I kept my family from going to the store twice because I actually could locate the item they thought we don't have in the house. Yes, we have glue sticks and we have razer knives, you just need to keep track of things where you can find them ) LOL

[sk8er1964]

One thing that encourages consumerism is living in a house and losing track of whether you have something. How many people (including me and my family) have trouble finding something, go out and get one, just to discover you actually have the item in question in the first place? Then we find ourselves having ten staplers, 50 pencils, 40 pens....(Today I kept my family from going to the store twice because I actually could locate the item they thought we don't have in the house. Yes, we have glue sticks and we have razer knives, you just need to keep track of things where you can find them ) LOL

I'm a big fan of saying to myself "I haven't used this in a year, throw it out!" and then as soon as I do, needing it.

[DickButtonFan]

I definitely have too much stuff, I'm planning on donating a lot of it. There are a bunch of clothes in my closet that still have the tags, mostly fancy dresses and I have no where to wear them. I have a big miss-match of dishes and mugs, the oddest thing is one of them I don't even know where it came from, it is a mug that says I love Hawaii, and I've never even been there . I probably have a hundred pens and pencils and most of the pens don't even work 1/2 of the time.

What bugs me most is the new technology that always breaks on me. I have probably bought 3 printers this year because I had to replace the ones that broke about 2 months after purchase. Even my macbook pro broke before the warranty was up. THings really aren't built like they used to, even when you buy the more expensive version.

[mkats]

One thing that encourages consumerism is living in a house and losing track of whether you have something. How many people (including me and my family) have trouble finding something, go out and get one, just to discover you actually have the item in question in the first place? Then we find ourselves having ten staplers, 50 pencils, 40 pens....(Today I kept my family from going to the store twice because I actually could locate the item they thought we don't have in the house. Yes, we have glue sticks and we have razer knives, you just need to keep track of things where you can find them ) LOL

Reminds me of when my then-boyfriend used to visit me at my place and would stay just long enough to actually bring over stuff, but then would leave it and it would have long disappeared by the next time he came to visit. I solved this problem by rounding up an enormous cardboard box and scribbling his name on the side. Anything (and I do mean anything small and in danger of disappearing...) he left at my place went into that box, and voila, there it was next time he came to visit!

[DickButtonFan]

Oh and I think this video is very appropriate for this thread:

What's in Andy Rooney's drawers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tun9EBKOYqI

[manhn]

I like that the author ignores her food/drink consumption. What's the difference between spending $50 on a dress and $50 on a bottle of wine? You're still outta $50.

And this always *bugs* me:

Could I/we (me and my boyfriend) do without buying it? For example, I’m going on holiday but don’t have an ‘easyjet-sized’ suitcase. I could go and buy one, or I could borrow one from a friend and make sure I bring them back some chocolates to say thanks.

I don't know. If you're so hard up that you can't buy luggage, then maybe you shouldn't take an expensive vacation. What's wrong with staycations?

[Southpaw]

I don't know. If you're so hard up that you can't buy luggage, then maybe you shouldn't take an expensive vacation. What's wrong with staycations?

The way I was looking at the luggage issue is that if you borrow someone's suitcase enough times and bring back chocolates in lieu of rent then eventually it will have been cheaper to have gone to Chinatown to buy your own dang suitcase.

[cruisin]

^^ A little off topic, but, be careful with buying luggage in Chinatown. Not that you need to buy top of the line luggage, but often the stuff you get in Chinatown is really crap. The zippers break, the seams split. If you're traveling by car, not a problem, but by plane, could be a problem. I know people who have bought cheap "designer" luggage in Chinatown, only to have it fall apart when tossed about by baggage handlers. Sometimes it's worth it to spend a little more first, because you save in the long run.

but, basically, I agree with Southpaw's point

[MacMadame]

The way I was looking at the luggage issue is that if you borrow someone's suitcase enough times and bring back chocolates in lieu of rent then eventually it will have been cheaper to have gone to Chinatown to buy your own dang suitcase.

It depends on how much you travel, I guess. If you only need a big suitcase every couple of years, why not borrow one? But if you travel a lot, then it's not cost effective.

OTOH, I don't think the article was about saving money but about lowering the demand for new items. Chocolates are a consumable made from renewable resources. Most luggage is not made from renewable resources so it might make sense to spend on chocolate instead of luggage if your goal is to cut down on what ends up in landfills and uses up resources like coal and oil.

[jlai]

It has something to do with how we are raised too. I have nephews who will toss freshly barbecued meat with barely a bite on it just because it is too spicy. They do that because their parents let them do it. (WHile the parents do not throw away perfectly good meat they do throw away stuff just a litle used. ) By the time these nephews grow up and have their own kids, I'm sure they'll be tossing even more slightly used stuff to trash. There's the recycling bin but many things are still not recyclable.

[Southpaw]

OTOH, I don't think the article was about saving money but about lowering the demand for new items. Chocolates are a consumable made from renewable resources. Most luggage is not made from renewable resources so it might make sense to spend on chocolate instead of luggage if your goal is to cut down on what ends up in landfills and uses up resources like coal and oil.

OK if that's the case then I still say she's better off getting a suitcase of her own but instead of going to those schysters on Canal Street she should go to a thrift store and look for it there like she already does with other stuff**. That suitcase in the thrift store is already made, the damage is already done. So if she buys it from the thrift store then the thrift store now has an open slot for a different already made used suitcase that someone else can come along and adopt. So the thrift store is the clearinghouse for the recycled suitcases of the world and she doesn't have to waste any more money on buying chocolates. Everybody wins! Well, except for the person who isn't getting the chocolates anymore. Oh well, they can take their own trip and buy their own damn chocolates. I guess the chocolatier is losing a little business, too. Oh well, it's just one customer. If everyone starts buying their own suitcases and doesn't buy their chocolates in exchange for suitcase privileges then maybe there will be a problem but for right now it's just one lost customer with her own private suitcase. The good news is she can use the money she saves on the chocolates to save towards a $20 loaf of bread because when that Euro goes kablooey, lordy we're all doomed! Except for the suitcases, they're not doomed at all and they'll do just fine and get along much as they always have. Oh crap, she's in England right? I'm not sure what the conversion is and how much a loaf of bread will cost in England when the Euro goes kablooey and the melted chocolate hits the steel-bladed antique fan. I'll tell you this, though. She'll sure be grateful for that thrift store suitcase when she has to live out of it!



**Stuff (circa 1986)

[Aussie Willy]

It depends on how much you travel, I guess. If you only need a big suitcase every couple of years, why not borrow one? But if you travel a lot, then it's not cost effective.

OTOH, I don't think the article was about saving money but about lowering the demand for new items. Chocolates are a consumable made from renewable resources. Most luggage is not made from renewable resources so it might make sense to spend on chocolate instead of luggage if your goal is to cut down on what ends up in landfills and uses up resources like coal and oil.

I agree. They were basically saying why do we need to keep consuming or generating demand for products when we could use something that already exists. And particularly when others may not mind you using them. I have borrowed suitcases from family members, particularly when my stuff was in storage.

If I go to the cafe at work and buy hot food, I always take plastic container that I get the staff to put my food in rather than using their containers which would only be thrown out. And the other thing I did was buy a thermo cup with a lid which I take there to get hot chocolate in. I think I have saved generating quite a lot of rubbish that way.

[Japanfan]

OK if that's the case then I still say she's better off getting a suitcase of her own but instead of going to those schysters on Canal Street she should go to a thrift store and look for it there like she already does with other stuff**. That suitcase in the thrift store is already made, the damage is already done. So if she buys it from the thrift store then the thrift store now has an open slot for a different already made used suitcase that someone else can come along and adopt. So the thrift store is the clearinghouse for the recycled suitcases of the world and she doesn't have to waste any more money on buying chocolates.

Except if she's hardly ever going to use a suitcase, borrowing makes more sense that buying second hand. Especially if you live in a small space and don't have much room to store a suitcase.

Everybody wins! Well, except for the person who isn't getting the chocolates anymore. Oh well, they can take their own trip and buy their own damn chocolates.

Nothing wrong with allocating money to a gift rather than a suitcase you're hardly ever going to use.

I guess the chocolatier is losing a little business, too. Oh well, it's just one customer. If everyone starts buying their own suitcases and doesn't buy their chocolates in exchange for suitcase privileges then maybe there will be a problem but for right now it's just one lost customer with her own private suitcase. The good news is she can use the money she saves on the chocolates to save towards a $20 loaf of bread because when that Euro goes kablooey, lordy we're all doomed! Except for the suitcases, they're not doomed at all and they'll do just fine and get along much as they always have.

After Christmas the thrift stores are full of breadmakers people got but didn't want for Christmas. That would be a wiser spending choice than either a suitcase or a nice box of chocolates. You could make nice breads for gifts.

But better hurry I guess, before the world goes all to hell and Europe's proles are begging for bread again!!,

I'll tell you this, though. She'll sure be grateful for that thrift store suitcase when she has to live out of it!

[cruisin]

It has something to do with how we are raised too. I have nephews who will toss freshly barbecued meat with barely a bite on it just because it is too spicy.

I don't see fault with your nephews, I see fault with their parents. If the kids can't eat something because it's too spicy, why are the parents making it so hot, that they can't eat it? I can't eat spicy food, and I've had one or two occasions where I've ordered something in a restaurant, been told it's not spicy, then couldn't eat it, because it was too spicy. Not caring for the taste of something is one thing, but spicy (for some) can be a problem. I don't see that in the same category as wasteful.

[jlai]

I don't see fault with your nephews, I see fault with their parents. If the kids can't eat something because it's too spicy, why are the parents making it so hot, that they can't eat it? I can't eat spicy food, and I've had one or two occasions where I've ordered something in a restaurant, been told it's not spicy, then couldn't eat it, because it was too spicy. Not caring for the taste of something is one thing, but spicy (for some) can be a problem. I don't see that in the same category as wasteful.

It was an extended family reunion
Parenta did not make the food
if it is spicy others can eat it