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Materialism
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molgripsFree Member
I try not to be materialistic, but some days don’t you just want to just buy something? Cool and preferably expensive?
I mean I don’t these days, I have to watch the money, but the urge is still there every so often. It’s not really covetousness, just a desire to get something new that interests me.
Like right now I want to buy a flame-proof suit…..
IHNFull MemberYep, especially when I’m bored at work.
Given that I’m currently ‘working’ my notice, it’s been an expensive couple of weeks.
Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition
Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...avdave2Full MemberIt would be nice to always be able to buy the highest quality without compromising but I’m not really interested in buying more than I already do. I don’t get any reward from the actual act of buying anything.
molgripsFree MemberI’d love a shiny new expensive laptop. But I don’t need one, I have a nice tablet. Or a PS4. Or some nice audio stuff.
I won’t buy any of them tho, of course.
ChunkyMTBFree MemberI seem to remember a thread like this recently. Went the predictable STW way, as I’m sure this one will……
tomhowardFull MemberI’m ok for a bit I reckon, latest retail therapy session should last me a year or so, or whenever eagle etap comes out 😁
scotroutesFull MemberLuckily I’m a prevaricator. That means that buy the time I get round to actually buying something new and shiny it’s usually out of stock – or my eye has been caught by something else.
funkmasterpFull MemberI always want to buy something (currently lights for night riding, a new saddle, some shoes and clothes), but luckily I have small children, a leaking roof and rotten gutters. Coupled with being poor to start with I’m on to a winner in the ‘not buying anything for a very long time’ stakes and that includes roof and gutter repairs.
mikey74Free MemberWhat is materialism? I bought an acoustic guitar the other day: I love having guitars around as playing them helps me relax and I missed having one around (I didn’t have room to bring them when I moved out here). I’m now looking at getting an electric, for the same reason. Is that materialism? I’m not saying it isn’t, just interested in the definition. You could apply the same to anything that helps you cope mentally, such as bikes.
handybarFree MemberThe older I get the less materialistic I am; but I’ve noticed a number of people I know, “Thatcher’s Children” who are getting worse with age, to the extent that they are seriously over-spending.
“But house prices only ever go up innit?!”
Saying that, it is impossible to escape the claws of the market. Everywhere you go, there is someone/something trying to sell you something. We’ve imported American capitalism big style. It is very depressing!
tomhowardFull MemberYou could apply the same to anything that helps you cope mentally, such as bikes.
You can can get a bike for <£100, why does anyone need an £8k one?
philjuniorFree MemberI do get the odd urge, unfortunately only for things way out of my budget…
I kinda know they’d only make me happy with time to spend on them too, though.
One of the things I resent my ex for is plunging me into debt and preventing me from really spending money on much fun stuff for the past ten years, despite having a reasonably well paid job (She had spending problems, and couldn’t be arsed to work but got muggins to fund many failed ventures). 🙁
NicoFree MemberYou can can get a bike for <£100, why does anyone need an £8k one?
Wider handlebars.
willardFull MemberI feel that sometimes and have just given in to it for the first time in a while. Just a new headset though. And a set of rigid forks.
footflapsFull MemberMy solution is to transfer 80% of my spare cash into my SIPP / ISA the day I get paid, so I don’t actually have any spare cash for the rest of the month (or at least not enough to be able to waste too much on conspicuous consumption).
philjuniorFree MemberMy solution is to transfer 80% of my spare cash into my SIPP / ISA the day I get paid, so I don’t actually have any spare cash for the rest of the month (or at least not enough to be able to waste too much on conspicuous consumption).
This is fair enough to build up enough for a rainy day, but what do you do with the rest? I have a mate that’s thought about buying a 911, has the money sat in the bank, but just hasn’t bought one and I really can’t understand that level of self denial. I mean if he decided to give it to charity instead, fair enough, but it’s not doing anything in his bank account.
footflapsFull MemberThis is fair enough to build up enough for a rainy day, but what do you do with the rest?
It’s my pension, so I plan to retire with it.
stumpy01Full MemberIt’s a tricky one, this…..I hardly ever buy new stuff & when I do, I spend ages researching the different options & generally buy something that does the job perfectly well but is nothing fancy – for example, my previous phone was a Sony Xperia T which I had for 4 years and only replaced when it was really on it’s last legs. I replaced it after a good couple of months of research with a £200 Lenovo P2. Going into the Three shop to buy it, I was genuinely a bit ‘knotty’ in my stomach because I was spending such a large amount of money on a gadget….
I was the same with my 3-D printer, which I bought earlier this year. It was bought with some money from a modest work bonus, so didn’t affect our normal finances whatsoever. But, I still prevaricated for ages over whether I really needed it, was it a frivolous purchase, was it the right thing to do etc. And that only cost £224. I know people who spend more than that on an evening out….
But, if I end up having a mooch around a department store like John Lewis, I do quite often think holy crap, if I just went around & bought everything I have seen & quite fancy having at this moment, I could probably max out my £4k credit card limit in about 20 mins.
Same with shops like Go Outdoors etc.We were in the cafe at John Lewis a few weeks ago having a well deserved coffee & letting our daughter have a run around in the play area. There was a bloke sat with a coffee who must have just bought a new camera. It was one of the new Panasonic models with a 1″ sensor, so probably about £450 worth.
He sat doing that ‘unboxing’ thing, looking at each bit in turn, leafing through the quick start guide etc.
I was quite envious….. 🙂footflapsFull MemberI blew £2.79 on some new wing nuts for my fixie last night, after one of them stripped when fixing a puncture.
bikebouyFree MemberI do not need, I do not need, I do not need.. I have a tele already, I do NOT NEED another !!!!!
ads678Full MemberMy solution is to transfer 80% of my spare cash into my SIPP / ISA the day I get paid, so I don’t actually have any spare cash for the rest of the month
I do a similar thing by paying my credit card off…..
HansReyFull Member<div class=”bbp-reply-content”>
Yep, especially when I’m bored at work.
Given that I’m currently ‘working’ my notice, it’s been an expensive couple of weeks.
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+1 that. I bought a phil jones big head instead of a vox headphone amp. Only 7 working days to go…rene59Free MemberFor me, most of the satisfaction comes with researching a new item. Looking at what’s available, reading reviews, comparing the specifications etc. Sometimes when I get the urge to buy something I don’t need I find that researching it over a period of a few days and learning everything about it I can takes the urge away to buy it. In most cases anyway.
I’m weird, I know.
kayla1Free MemberI could buy loads of crap, me, but I have issues with having relatively expensive stuff lying about not being used so it’d soon get punted on. I tend to buy second hand stuff anyway- I’d love a Les Paul but I’m not a good enough player to warrant another guitar (I’ve already got a really nice Epi SG and a Yam electro-acoustic) and you can only ride one bike or play one guitar at a time anyway! Our house isn’t big enough for all our crap as it is 😆 Oh, and Lego, don’t get me started on Lego FFS…
scaledFree MemberI’m terrible for drunk buying really expensive things.
The trouble is it always transpires that i’ve bottled it at the last minute and gone to bed. I get all the thrills of waiting for the delivery driver to bring me my new stuff only to realise that I never ordered it.
oldtennisshoesFull MemberHaving just cleared my mum’s house of ‘stuff’ I’m in no mood for superfluous purchases of things. Holidays though……
zilog6128Full Memberfor me materialism (in the pejorative sense) means buying something just for the sake of it, or to impress others, or (to an extent) because it has an aesthetic appeal but not a functional one.
I do spend a fair bit on bike stuff, gadgets etc but I’ve never bought anything to impress anyone, just to make my life easier or more enjoyable! Hardly ever buy (non-tech) clothing, would never buy jewellery or an expensive watch etc. Or a flash car for that matter (I do have a flash van, but that’s because it offers functionality that cheaper ones don’t 😀).
OP, if you want a PS4 just buy one. I assume you want one because you think you’ll enjoying playing on it, not because you want to boast to others (you would’ve needed to get it on release day to do that anyway!) I wouldn’t count that as materialistic.
globaltiFree MemberI’ve got almost everything I need so I manage to resist spending money on “gizzits”. I probably buy two or three items of clothing a year, a dozen or so spares for the bikes and a handful of other things for DIY. We have a “one in – one out” policy at home meaning that any time we buy something, we sell or throw away something else to make space. We even do the weekly shop on Ocado so as to avoid wasting money on the two for ones that you end up not eating, so I guess we’re pretty disciplined.
oldtalentFree MemberYour cash spend it how you wish. The people who complain generally haven’t done well in life and don’t have spare money.
Kryton57Full MemberAs you know, I moved on from this. Its quite rewarding sitting down thinking about what you need rather than what you want. Thats not to say the things you need can’t be nice things, vis a vis my newish German car albeit bought 2/3rds of list might sound pretentious to some, but actually its sum of collective parts makes a very big difference to me mentally and physically whilst trolling the motorways on a daily basis for my job.
In my (materialist) transitional period I’ve manage to save £13,306 (wait for it) by not spending money on things I wanted, but deciding I didn’t need them. This included fancy new phones, ‘puters, a bike consolidation, fixing a broken car rather than buying a new one’d and I avoided the Jo Malone that CFH recommended the other day because its £94 a bottle.
The 13k / -2 yrs is a result of paying the money I would have paid for “things I’ve desired” off the mortgage instead. e.g. Instead of the £94 aftershave I have a discounted £37 well known decent one and £57 went into the family savings.
It turns out you can polish a turd with a dishcloth instead of a silken handkerchief, and if no one saw you do it they’d be none the wiser.
colpFull MemberThe main extravagant materialistic purchase I made recently was an ebike.
Had a laugh riding up some steep road in Lancashire the other day when they were holding some kind of road race up there.
molgripsFree MemberOP, if you want a PS4 just buy one. I assume you want one because you think you’ll enjoying playing on it, not because you want to boast to others (you would’ve needed to get it on release day to do that anyway!) I wouldn’t count that as materialistic.
Will you marry me?
andypaul99Free MemberI appreciate the quality in goods and am prepared to pay the price.
Thats why i only shop at John Lewis, drive a BMW and wont put my leg over anything that doesnt have the words S-Works printed on the frame.
Im also a compulsive liar.
bikebouyFree MemberAs you know, I moved on from this. Its quite rewarding sitting down thinking about what you need rather than what you want. Thats not to say the things you need can’t be nice things, vis a vis my newish German car albeit bought 2/3rds of list might sound pretentious to some, but actually its sum of collective parts makes a very big difference to me mentally and physically whilst trolling the motorways on a daily basis for my job.
In my (materialist) transitional period I’ve manage to save £13,306 (wait for it) by not spending money on things I wanted, but deciding I didn’t need them. This included fancy new phones, ‘puters, a bike consolidation, fixing a broken car rather than buying a new one’d and I avoided the Jo Malone that CFH recommended the other day because its £94 a bottle.
The 13k / -2 yrs is a result of paying the money I would have paid for “things I’ve desired” off the mortgage instead. e.g. Instead of the £94 aftershave I have a discounted £37 well known decent one and £57 went into the family savings.
It turns out you can polish a turd with a dishcloth instead of a silken handkerchief, and if no one saw you do it they’d be none the wiser.
Ok, I’ll bite.
Well bloody done Sir. That’s an awesome way of defining your worth, and the worth of goods.
You can only be applauded for the changes you have made.
👍🙏
However..
Are you happy? I mean reaaallllyyyyy happy now?
🤣🤪💪
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