Materialistic?

Caixta

My little boy (8 years old) is a real Money Saver and loves getting a bargain with his pocket money.

He practises a sort of inverse snobbery whereby if he finds something cheap that does the job, he says, "I'm not going to treat it as though it is cheap. I'm going to look after it as though it was expensive. It is more valuable to me because of all the money it has saved me." I think that's really deep! And he arrived at that conclusion all by himself.

lazy&indebt

very intelligent boy you have there, Caixta! If only he had been around when i took out my first credit card!! Definatley more sensible than me!!

catkins

I don't necessarily buy the cheapest but certainly don't believe that because it's a hell of a lot dearer it must be much much better. I am lucky because I have never been materialistic - I guess because of my upbringing. I like my house to look nice but that doesn't mean I have to have the biggest and most expensive of everything. I am quite happy with secondhand - you can get some good bargains through ads in the papers, charity shops etc. I buy almost all of my clothes from markets, charity shops, Primark, Matalan etcand often people comment that they like my clothes.

A lot of people I work with are always getting new mobile phones which cost them a fortune and laugh at my old Nokia (it's about 5 years old) but I can make and receive calls and texts on it and that is all I want to do. The same with things like tv's and stereos. They boast about how big a screen their tv has and how much it cost. I have a fairly decent tv but it wasn't particularly expensive and again is about 5 years old. I bought a pretty cheap stereo but a pretty good make and it has lasted me. I was lucky that about a month ago someone had a really good stereo on freecycle which they were getting rid of because it is not a mini one. It's separate bits quite big (if you know what I mean). I am over the moon with it as the sound is fantastic (the speakers are also a very good make according to my husband). The people at work would be horrified that my stereo is not the latest model and also that I got it secondhand.

A woman at work has just got a loan to get leather settees for £1,600. I saw an ad in local Tesco that someone was getting rid of a 2 and a 3 seater which were only 6 months old. Went to see them, she had the receipt to prove how old they were (she is moving in with boyfriend so doesn't need them). They cost her £1,400 new and I got them for £450!!!!!

lynzpower

catkins wrote:

I don't necessarily buy the cheapest but certainly don't believe that because it's a hell of a lot dearer it must be much much better. I am lucky because I have never been materialistic - I guess because of my upbringing. I like my house to look nice but that doesn't mean I have to have the biggest and most expensive of everything. I am quite happy with secondhand - you can get some good bargains through ads in the papers, charity shops etc. I buy almost all of my clothes from markets, charity shops, Primark, Matalan etcand often people comment that they like my clothes.

A lot of people I work with are always getting new mobile phones which cost them a fortune and laugh at my old Nokia (it's about 5 years old) but I can make and receive calls and texts on it and that is all I want to do. The same with things like tv's and stereos. They boast about how big a screen their tv has and how much it cost. I have a fairly decent tv but it wasn't particularly expensive and again is about 5 years old. I bought a pretty cheap stereo but a pretty good make and it has lasted me. I was lucky that about a month ago someone had a really good stereo on freecycle which they were getting rid of because it is not a mini one. It's separate bits quite big (if you know what I mean). I am over the moon with it as the sound is fantastic (the speakers are also a very good make according to my husband). The people at work would be horrified that my stereo is not the latest model and also that I got it secondhand.

A woman at work has just got a loan to get leather settees for £1,600. I saw an ad in local Tesco that someone was getting rid of a 2 and a 3 seater which were only 6 months old. Went to see them, she had the receipt to prove how old they were (she is moving in with boyfriend so doesn't need them). They cost her £1,400 new and I got them for £450!!!!!

And yur sofas will be already part worn in, the best thing about slightly older leather sofas!

I dont give a toss about that sort of thing either, my sister spends 200 quid on handbags, I think shes utterly stupid for doing it.

SamMoffatt28

I wish I could get my hubby on side with this point. He believes you get what you pay for, and will only buy brand name items. He was totally embarrassed when I told him I'd been shopping in Netto and said he couldn't be seen in there ever. He say's Ethel Austin is for 'paupers' which I guess must include me and the kids since I buy most of their clothes in there!. He wouldnt be seen dead in Matalan either. I guess its the way hes been brought up as he has the same viewpoint as his dad.

I dont have any thought or care for material things - this was probably brought about by a very messy split with an abusive ex who locked me and the kids out of the house and gave us nothing, so all we owned was what we stood up in. I lost everything that was dear to me so I have learned never to become attached to material things because there are some things in life that are so much more important. The way I look at it is that the ex might have got all the material things but I got the kids and they hate him, so who won?
Me of course and the silly thing is he doesnt even realise what he lost.

As for hubby I am slowly turning him around but its hard to change the habits of a lifetime! Hes lucky he has never been in the situation I and many others have, but if he had he wouldnt care about brand name and designer stuff.

Molanole

My sister has a siemens porsche toaster (£100), yes, really, and it is the single most useless item I have ever used in my life. When I went to uni I bought one of those multipack toaster, kettle and sandwich maker sets for about £10 (ten years ago). The kettle gave up the ghost some years ago due to being owned by a real tea addict but the toaster and sandwich maker are still going strong. In some respects you do get what you pay for but there are always exceptions to the rule. I for one am finding a new outlook since coming on here.

dinkylou

Contrary to many on here, I dont agree with the saying 'you get what you pay for'

I think that may have been true in the past but not so much nowadays.

Technology advances so fast that companies can make things cheaper at an equal quality but it is the branding which makes you pay more.

I work in marketing (i know, boo hiss!) and was at a branding conference the other day where they were talking about this and how a brand can increase the value of a product by as much as 100% (sometimes without real justification) and the clever mental manipulation techniques used.

Theres a good thread somewhere on the forum which I think Martin started on how own brand products can sometimes be the same as with branded, even electrials.

Made me think. And no, I'm not as materialistic as I used to be.

lynzpower

dinkylou wrote:

Contrary to many on here, I dont agree with the saying 'you get what you pay for'

I think that may have been true in the past but not so much nowadays.

Technology advances so fast that companies can make things cheaper at an equal quality but it is the branding which makes you pay more.

I work in marketing (i know, boo hiss!) and was at a branding conference the other day where they were talking about this and how a brand can increase the value of a product by as much as 100% (sometimes without real justification) and the clever mental manipulation techniques used.

Theres a good thread somewhere on the forum which I think Martin started on how own brand products can sometimes be the same as with branded, even electrials.

Made me think. And no, I'm not as materialistic as I used to be.

Its "the great own brand hunt" on shop but dont drop. Fab resource. Especially things like the woman who opened her posh M&S coffee to find an asda foil - a quid difference in the retail price there :mad:

OberonSH

Material things is something me and new boyfriend disagree on on. He knows he's materialistic (and hates it). He was really upset the other day because his wages this month were low. He was going on about only having £11 to live on each week, and I was worried. Then it turns out that that's after all his bills are paid, and the petrol & food budgets are taken into account. What he meant was £11 'wasting' money. I was really mad at him, as he didn't speak to me all night and was in a right foul mood.


I on the other hand am not a big fan of sitting there countng my pennies and cackling insanely. I'd rather have enough to be comfortable and not have to worry about the bills than have loads of money in the bank but never have time to spend with my daughter. I think when you're trying to live on a budget, you realise that in fact you need very little to live comfortably. Tonight I'm having my favourite tea - corned beef hash. Hash = 70p, Tinned toms = 13p, organic pots = £1 onion = 50p. Feeds 4, so thats approx 58p per portion, and I enjoy that more than a lot of the meals I've had in fancy restaurants.

I'd like to think that even though we're in debt, it's taught us more than just how not to do it again, but has improved our quality of life, as when we do finally have more money available, we'll be in the habit of not splashing the cash, and therefore will be able to do more with our money.

Sorry about the rant!

tesuhoha

Broken_hearted wrote:

I sold mine at a car boot sale.

Jolly good idea.