Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

wildthing01

GreyQueen wrote: »

I was around a friend's on Monday evening and we were knitting and nattering with her TV on in the background, half-an-eye on a history programme. What astonished me as someone who doesn't have a TV was the manic activity of the adverts, the froth and lather of consumerism which I am self-sheltered from in my own life.

It was astonishing, like watching an alien culture. I laughed and immediately resolved to go and buy an new sofa, having deemed the secondhand one I bought in 2012 suddenly insufficiently-fashionable.

:rotfl:Actually, I made that last bit up. Does anyone fall for this carp?!

My kids do! they are always saying 'look mum, that [cleaner/hoover/etc] will make your life much better' or 'wow - that hotwheels car/tinkerbell fairy doll etc looks really cool - it flies!!'. I'm teaching them very carefully that the ads do not tell the truth, that the product looks great on tv but rarely works the way you think it will etc. They have learnt a few lessons like this - e.g. they really wanted a choc coin making kit a few yeara ago, went on about it for ages. We mentionned it as an Xmas pressie idea to a family member, who duly bought it. The kids were beside themselves as the ad made it look really quick and easy. It wasn't. It was really faffy and the ad hadn't shown the two-hour freezer time to cool the choc down, and it only made two coins at a time. The kids were really disappointed and never played with it again. We all learned a lesson there, which for me was to always read product reviews before buying anything new!

RicardaRacoon

Evening everyone

I tidied/decluttered the basement today. So far I filled a big rubbish bag, a box with metall bits and broken electricity for recycling and a big bag with soft toys and a few clothes for charity.
There is still one small corner to be done, but that is a five minute thing.
Bad side of it was that I found that a corner of my basement smelled really odd.... It was a can of catfood that had a hole in it and was all mouldy and smelly and urks! still have the smell in my nostrills....

Went to IKE@ with my sister yesterday on the way home from runnig some errands as we felt like eating meatballs. But I'm proud to say that I didn't bought a single thing in the shop, only got some items from the food corner as I love their mustard and they had half price chocolate in which I took into work for shared sweet box.

Lyn, I had a good laugh about your "Ahoy me hearties" or what it was. Reminded me of a woman from my knitting group who shouts "Oi sweeeties!" at the top of her voice through a full caf!...

Jackie, The Danish Girl is also on my must watch list.

GreyQueen of course we all run out and buy a new car, a new sofa and a house just because it was in the adds on telly :-) Don't you?
i do need a new sofa in the nearer future though as mine is falling apart. Hope that my Dad (he can fix almost everything...) will be able to fix it as I really like it, but if not, I will have to have a new one...

re Legos; I think unlike many other plastic toys they last forever, kids will play with them for years until they grow out of it and you can always pass them on to someone else or update them a bit by adding some new ones. So I guess compared to many other things it is rather an investment than a spend.

So, need to go to bed so that I will not be as tired tomorrow as I was today. Could have gone to sleep a couple of times during the day.

IrisViolet

Hi can I join in? Dabbled in mse over the years and always fall off the wagon. Need to keep on the straight and narrow this year I just literally can't keep living the way we have been. Always overspend on food, always too generous for presents and treats etc. This year we need to pay off our debt and start savings so I am definitely not buying it!! If we don't desperately need it then we ain't having it.

Larumbelle

RicardaRacoon wrote: »

GreyQueen of course we all run out and buy a new car, a new sofa and a house just because it was in the adds on telly :-) Don't you?

I was given two leather sofas less than a year old, previous owner hadn't even STARTED paying off the interest free credit on them :eek: She was the sister of a friend and wouldn't take any money for them, she was just grateful I was carting them off so she didn't have to pay to remove them. She decided that she didn't really like them after all so just went out and bought new ones, apparently without a second thought.

Six or so years on and there is still horror and despair mixed in with the gratitude.

Lynplatinum

Hiya Folks

Welcome Iris Violet - there is no 'bandwaggon' to fall off here - just friendly shipmates who will help you back on board

mavvymoo - yep once you get the hang of NBI it is very liberating! After last year I find myself looking round going 'What?? Seriously??? Folk are buying that?? Getting themselves into how much debt????' Such a relief not be part of that anymore and thanks to like minded folks on here I no longer feel that there is something wrong with me that I dont want to be part of the madness!

Re advertising men and women. I studied advertising as part of my business degree. It revolted me! Did you know for example that they have categories with numbers and letters for the punters?? Ads are designed to appeal to a specific demographic! Those of us over 50 may remember that this was the age you started to receive post/cold calls about funeral plans and pension planning??? I have a male friend called Viv - my name Lyn can be either male or female - it always used to amuse us that while I got the spam e-mails for pe!is enlargement - he got them for br!ast enlargement!! :rotfl:
and, yes, they assume that the public are stupid!! And gullible! Unfortunately the public seem determined to prove them correct! They fall for silly finance options and 'need' to buy stuff that is in the latest fashion which over the years I have seen extend from teenage - 20 something females and clothing and make up to people (male and female) of all ages; houses;bedding; china; and lately into gardens (which are becoming more like interiors everyday!). :eek:
However, I think there is a fight back beginning and i can see it in the more critically aware teenagers I teach! Will we find another way to exist that doesnt involve exploitation??? Where we treasure quality over quantity?? and appreciate craftsmanship - a lot of young folk I know are thinking that way - hopefull 1:j
Night all

dND

Larumbelle wrote: »

What I found helped me get back on track with my house, which I let slide so horrendously it seriously looked like it belonged on one of those ghastly reality shows, was to make a note of every tiny little victory. Don't make any record of anything negative, just focus on the positive. So for me, I have a note book that literally has entries like

01/01/16 - 2 bin bags of rubbish
02/01/16 - gave bag of clothes to charity shop
03/01/16 - did three loads of washing

Utterly ridiculous to anyone not recovering their home after not cleaning for a year after they had a breakdown! But useful and helpful to me, and not a mention of the six hours I spent procrastinating whether I could clean up, or the fact that I only gave one bag of clothes to the charity shop when I probably could have sorted out six if I had been more brutal!

Oh so true Larumbelle, I chat to my sister each night (free call from France), and usually when I start I'm feeling as though I've achieved nothing over the day but I try and list what I have done. It's amazing what you do achieve but write off in your brain.

I no longer make long lists of what I want to achieve in a day but I do have a list of things that it would be good to get done and try to make at least a start. Then I find that I can usually cajole myself into doing a bit more of something I started a day or more ago. It's as though I can't tackle something head on but I can shave away at it.

As you say, it must sound ridiculous to someone who's not been through a breakdown - when you can't even reach to the side of the seat you are sitting in and pick up a piece of paper and put it into the bin the other side :eek: - but I also suspect/realise that there are more of us out there than anyone could guess

What I've discovered over the last 10+ years since my breakdown is that more of us are willing to say 'yes I've been there'. It's good to know you are not alone in these feelings and that too helps with recovery.

I also try to focus on the good I can take from my breakdown; the main bit being the necessity to take a long look at me and my interaction in the world and what I want from it and what it does to me. It's been one of the main triggers to NBI. Once you start throwing the c@rp out of your life emotionally you see all the pressures you have been under to put you there in the first place - advertising being one of the main things.

I watched a programme last year that put it succinctly - advertising is based on fear - what will people think if I'm not doing this, I'm not buying that etc... NBI is truly liberating

GreyQueen

Well said, Lyn.

I was infuriated to learn that advertisers refer to those adverts for household products etc set in kitchens with a woman singing the praises of the product to another woman as two Cs in a K.

The 'k' being kitchen and the 'c' having four letters and definately not something I'd soil my speech with.:mad:

I got my original leather sofa as a cast-off from a friend and when it was so worn that it was actually uncomfortable, I replaced it with an almost identical one from a chazzer for £110. Or about 90% off retail, as I checked the manufacturer's website.

Presently, in the extended family, there is a 3-way sofa rehoming project when a rellie with more money than sense is getting rid of their sofa to another rellie (perfectly good, just unfashionable).Their sofa is going to one rellie, his sofa is going to another rellie, and their very knackered sofa is going (probably) to landfill.

Have spent very little since New Year, a few groceries, and £7 on onion sets and five gooseberry bushes for the allotment (£land). Probably won't be buying anything else this weekend, either.;)

mavvymoo

dND wrote: »

What I've discovered over the last 10+ years since my breakdown is that more of us are willing to say 'yes I've been there'. It's good to know you are not alone in these feelings and that too helps with recovery.

I also try to focus on the good I can take from my breakdown; the main bit being the necessity to take a long look at me and my interaction in the world and what I want from it and what it does to me. It's been one of the main triggers to NBI. Once you start throwing the c@rp out of your life emotionally you see all the pressures you have been under to put you there in the first place - advertising being one of the main things.

I watched a programme last year that put it succinctly - advertising is based on fear - what will people think if I'm not doing this, I'm not buying that etc... NBI is truly liberating

dND Great post and another one here who has been at that stage where you cant even put a peice of paper in a bin.

This Christmas and New year time is the first year for about 15 years where as I call it the' Black dog' has not reared his ugly head in my life.

I have commented on this on the KM thread and I am sure its to do with getting rid of the clutter both in your home and in your head.
I no longer worry about things that I cant change and if I can change it then I do something about it.

I also left quite a lot of people behind as they were bringing me down and the ones that I have to keep around I no longer stand for their c@rp say it as it is and just not worry about what they think.Ive learnt to just not care

Its taken me a long time to get here and it is baby steps and 1 day at a time.
During the kondo process I spent days in floods of tears and days of feeling elated never really knowing why I felt either.

But I am still feeling happy and I no longer want so much or need so much (Which is why I am here ) To keep me in check and stay on this ship and not go overboard anytime soon

Wishing everybody all the strength in the World.

Mav x

mavvymoo

A few years ago when I worked in a Pub a guy used to always come in and I got to know him quite well.His job was to write the adverts.
I think he was freelance and the companies sent him a brief outline of what the product was and what they wanted to get across.

One night he was talking about what he was trying to get across on a product and I came up with an idea which I thought was a bit carp and said it taking the mick a bit

About 3 months later I saw my carp idea on Telly :rotfl:I couldnt believe it. But there it was as I had said it.

I would just like to say sorry I subjected you all to that terrible Ad :rotfl:

Mav x

[Deleted User]

Good Morning shipmates ,here in kent the sun is actually out,but not for long I think.
I am off to do my first food shop this year,mainly fresh fruit and veg and a couple of odds and ends that I have run out of.So I am hoping it will come to under a tenner ,fingers crossed.By now the reduced Christmas stuff should be gone from the shops so I won't be tempted to buy any of it.I have more than enough stuff indoors at the moment anyway I finished the last of the Christmas brie off last night.So normal service foodwise is being resumed in my kitchen :):)
Then this afternoon off to History club which is budgeted for under entertainment expenses along with Quiz night,which by the way I won a bottle of wine at on Tuesday which has gone into my stash.

It really is liberating NBI as it means it frees up some time for me to do things I really enjoy doing I am not a very keen shopper at all and am quite happy to stay away from the shops if I can.
So onwards and upwards chums Happy Frugalling
JackieO xxx

P.S. its great to 'see' all the new people on here Anyone seen whats happened to vulpix at all