Why do people buy crap?

brianlux · January 2016

I was thinking about what PJFan said about PJ and Target having some kind of partnership and how totally incomprehensible that is to me and hopefully it's not true but it reminded me of a few years back when I signed up through a local conservation group to take a class on sustainability. We thoroughly delved into what that term really means and came to the conclusion that it is a greatly and widely misunderstood concept. To punctuate that, at the very last meeting we got to talking casually about local business and someone mentioned that one of the big chain grocery stores here was moving into a new location and we all began to speculate what would go in that store's old building. One person who works with the city informed us it would be a Big Lots (it's still there and talk about CRAP!) and almost all of us let out a collective moan. And then one woman (a very nice lady so I don't mean to bad mouth her when I say this) emphatically bust out with, "Yeah, they need to put something GOOD in there like a Target!" I've never heard a room go quiet so fast. All of us just sort of sat there slack jawed and speechless.

PJfanwillneverleave1 · January 2016

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearl-jams-big-plans-for-target-deal-fans-have-to-trust-us-20090901

mickeyrat · January 2016

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearl-jams-big-plans-for-target-deal-fans-have-to-trust-us-20090901

Umm, a one off distribution deal for Backspacer. Its 2016. One album since was sold where? Oh thats right just about everywhere.

PJfanwillneverleave1 · January 2016

mickeyrat said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearl-jams-big-plans-for-target-deal-fans-have-to-trust-us-20090901
Umm, a one off distribution deal for Backspacer. Its 2016. One album since was sold where? Oh thats right just about everywhere.

Still can't admit.

ldent42 · January 2016

I got some great tea towels from big lots last year.

PJfanwillneverleave1 · January 2016

ldent42 said:
I got some great tea towels from big lots last year.

Don't knock tea towels.
Fancy dancy priced ones usually seem water proof and are a pain in the ass to dry anything.
Bring on the cheap tea towels!

brianlux · January 2016

ldent42 said:
I got some great tea towels from big lots last year.

Better than paper towels.

ldent42 · January 2016

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

ldent42 said:
I got some great tea towels from big lots last year.
Don't knock tea towels.
Fancy dancy priced ones usually seem water proof and are a pain in the ass to dry anything.
Bring on the cheap tea towels!

I'm not knocking then I love them

PJ_Soul · January 2016

ldent42 said:

ehbacon said:
fun fact:

there are actually women who make a pretty decent living selling their feces, urine, hair, etc over the internet to weird pervs.
Where do I sign up?

I buy crap ALL THE TIME. I'm an irresponsible piece of shit though. I use those aluminum foil trays instead of servingware bowls for holiday meals, i re-use them to reheat the leftovers and then trash em. I use paper plates and plastic cups and I buy the individual cups of yogurt and cans of soda and liter bottles of soda. I buy cheap clothes and I get deliveries at least once a week.

I regret nothing.

The thing about most of that crap is that it can be recycled. Yeah, not having the crap in the first place is ideal, but at least this crap doesn't have to go into a landfill....

brianlux · January 2016

PJ_Soul said:

ldent42 said:

ehbacon said:
fun fact:

there are actually women who make a pretty decent living selling their feces, urine, hair, etc over the internet to weird pervs.
Where do I sign up?

I buy crap ALL THE TIME. I'm an irresponsible piece of shit though. I use those aluminum foil trays instead of servingware bowls for holiday meals, i re-use them to reheat the leftovers and then trash em. I use paper plates and plastic cups and I buy the individual cups of yogurt and cans of soda and liter bottles of soda. I buy cheap clothes and I get deliveries at least once a week.

I regret nothing.

The thing about most of that crap is that it can be recycled. Yeah, not having the crap in the first place is ideal, but at least this crap doesn't have to go into a landfill....

True, but it takes energy and resources to recycle. Sorry ladies, not good enough arguments to justify buying crap.

I'm not trying to put anybody down here, just trying to encourage taking more care in what we consume. The more durable an item, the longer it will last and longer it will be (saving energy usage) before it does go to recycling.

ldent42 · January 2016

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

ldent42 said:

ehbacon said:
fun fact:

there are actually women who make a pretty decent living selling their feces, urine, hair, etc over the internet to weird pervs.
Where do I sign up?

I buy crap ALL THE TIME. I'm an irresponsible piece of shit though. I use those aluminum foil trays instead of servingware bowls for holiday meals, i re-use them to reheat the leftovers and then trash em. I use paper plates and plastic cups and I buy the individual cups of yogurt and cans of soda and liter bottles of soda. I buy cheap clothes and I get deliveries at least once a week.

I regret nothing.

The thing about most of that crap is that it can be recycled. Yeah, not having the crap in the first place is ideal, but at least this crap doesn't have to go into a landfill....
True, but it takes energy and resources to recycle. Sorry ladies, not good enough arguments to justify buying crap.

I'm not trying to put anybody down here, just trying to encourage taking more care in what we consume. The more durable an item, the longer it will last and longer it will be (saving energy usage) before it does go to recycling.

Not at all b-lux, you're absolutely right. I am kind of a jerk about recycling. I recycle everything. My building actually DOES separate the recycling so it's not like I'm wasting my time. If they got a compost bin I'd be all over that shit too.

One of the benefits of being both cheap AND broke is I am quite good at repurposing just about everything

I do wanna go to the dollar store and get some kind of decorative hook magnet so I can hang the potholders on the fridge rather than have them on the desk 6ft away from the oven.

Here's a thought about waste on a grand scale: All those printed paper losing powerball tickets.

hedonist · January 2016

ldent42 said:
All those printed paper losing powerball tickets.

We crumple up ours and they become cat toys.

We flick, they chase.

Win?

InHiding80 · January 2016

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
^^^
So what.
Enjoy some bad food for fucking once.

So because it's wrong and poisonous, idiot. Figures a typical Trumphadist like you would defend them and force others to think like you. If I want to stay healthy, that's my business and not yours, jackass.

PJfanwillneverleave1 · January 2016

InHiding80 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
^^^
So what.
Enjoy some bad food for fucking once.
So because it's wrong and poisonous, idiot. Figures a typical Trumphadist like you would defend them and force others to think like you. If I want to stay healthy, that's my business and not yours, jackass.

Easy big fella.
A Big Mac just might cheer you up, or a happy meal.

brianlux · January 2016

Shitty food is a whole other subject. I think we covered that somewhere in a Food Inc. thread. It's bad for the body, bad for the planet, and definitely bad for the animals.

ldent42 said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

ldent42 said:

ehbacon said:
fun fact:

there are actually women who make a pretty decent living selling their feces, urine, hair, etc over the internet to weird pervs.
Where do I sign up?

I buy crap ALL THE TIME. I'm an irresponsible piece of shit though. I use those aluminum foil trays instead of servingware bowls for holiday meals, i re-use them to reheat the leftovers and then trash em. I use paper plates and plastic cups and I buy the individual cups of yogurt and cans of soda and liter bottles of soda. I buy cheap clothes and I get deliveries at least once a week.

I regret nothing.

The thing about most of that crap is that it can be recycled. Yeah, not having the crap in the first place is ideal, but at least this crap doesn't have to go into a landfill....
True, but it takes energy and resources to recycle. Sorry ladies, not good enough arguments to justify buying crap.

I'm not trying to put anybody down here, just trying to encourage taking more care in what we consume. The more durable an item, the longer it will last and longer it will be (saving energy usage) before it does go to recycling.
Not at all b-lux, you're absolutely right. I am kind of a jerk about recycling. I recycle everything. My building actually DOES separate the recycling so it's not like I'm wasting my time. If they got a compost bin I'd be all over that shit too.

One of the benefits of being both cheap AND broke is I am quite good at repurposing just about everything I do wanna go to the dollar store and get some kind of decorative hook magnet so I can hang the potholders on the fridge rather than have them on the desk 6ft away from the oven.

Here's a thought about waste on a grand scale: All those printed paper losing powerball tickets.

Glad you understand I'm not picking on you, Ident!

My take on being broke (I've been there-- I was so broke in the mid nineties that I lived in my van for a couple of years) is that the less money one has, the more imperative it is on a personal level to buy quality goods. The better the quality, the longer it will last, the more money you save in the long run, plus the better for the planet. And anyone who is not poor would be wise to do the same for benevolent reasons.

bootlegger10 · January 2016

I would bet there are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck so they only buy what they can afford at the time. They would love to buy that expensive pair of socks that will last a long time, but they also may have to pay for jeans, shirts, shoes, food, rent, gas, mortgage, etc... so they have to spread out the money they spend and buy the cheapest thing they can to get them through the next few months. I agree if you have some money saved up you can buy the nice stuff, but if you don't have that piggy bank to allow you to buy nicer things then you may unfortunately be in a vicious circle of wanting to buy nicer things to save money in the long run but never having quite enough money to be able to get started.

brianlux · January 2016

bootlegger10 said:
I would bet there are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck so they only buy what they can afford at the time. They would love to buy that expensive pair of socks that will last a long time, but they also may have to pay for jeans, shirts, shoes, food, rent, gas, mortgage, etc... so they have to spread out the money they spend and buy the cheapest thing they can to get them through the next few months. I agree if you have some money saved up you can buy the nice stuff, but if you don't have that piggy bank to allow you to buy nicer things then you may unfortunately be in a vicious circle of wanting to buy nicer things to save money in the long run but never having quite enough money to be able to get started.

This seems like sound thinking until you really think it out. Like I said, I've been poor, dirt poor. Here's are some things I learned that helped:

-Thrift stores. Maybe not helpful if you live in a third world country but North America is chock-a-block full of very inexpensive, good, useful items in thrift stores.

-The importance of prioritizing what I needed (one of the key points here for many people is to learn the difference between "need" and "want"). Once you narrow down your list to true needs, look for the best item money can buy and save for the next item on the list.

-Mending clothing. Often a few stitches will make do for the time being.

-Dumpster dive. Don't be too proud to take what others discard. I still have a bookshelf I picked out of a dumpster in 1997 and it looks great.

-Food banks,, and other charities. I give to Loaves and Fishes because they were so good to me years ago and I didn't starve. Don't be too proud to accept free food because once you're refueled and back on your feet you can always give back.

-Learn how to budget. I'm one of the few people I personally know who budgets. My income this month is saved for next months bills. When February rolls around, I will have every cent I need for every expense that month already banked. It took me a while to get to this point but I started moving in that direction in the early 90's and by the late 1990's and I was there. And at that time I was living on about $650 a month.

Being poor does not mean you need to buy crap. At least here in America, it's a choice.

PJfanwillneverleave1 · January 2016

I'm not well off and I have certainly been poor.
Now I really, truly don't care about the packaging things come in because I will recycle as best I can with it.
I absolutely love Walmart (except on black Friday) and the dollar stores.
Because of my effort to conform to our local recycling and waste disposal rules I find my carbon footprint offset by all the people who don't buy crap and are near to hugging a tree.
So for me it's gratification neutral, I gain a cool gadget for a few bucks and I really don't care.
Socks on the other hand are very important like shoes. A $10pack for ten pairs at walmart is a great deal if you can afford $10/month to replace the socks as they are shit.
A $20 pair of socks sounds crazy but you won't want to take them off your feet once you try them.
I will drive a country mile with the A/C on, blasting Pearl Jam on the stereo on the way to the store to pick up useless crap.

brianlux · January 2016

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
I'm not well off and I have certainly been poor.
Now I really, truly don't care about the packaging things come in because I will recycle as best I can with it.
I absolutely love Walmart (except on black Friday) and the dollar stores.
Because of my effort to conform to our local recycling and waste disposal rules I find my carbon footprint offset by all the people who don't buy crap and are near to hugging a tree.

Simply recycling stuff does not equate to true sustainability. I totally agree that recycling is a good thing and do so as much as possible myself but recycling alone does not eliminate resource depletion. Nor does hugging a tree (in fact, if you hug the wrong kind of tree you may find yourself scratching a lot!)

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
So for me it's gratification neutral, I gain a cool gadget for a few bucks and I really don't care.

Depleting resources may be gratification neutral but it is not ecologically neutral. Don't fool yourself.

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:
Socks on the other hand are very important like shoes. A $10pack for ten pairs at walmart is a great deal if you can afford $10/month to replace the socks as they are shit.
A $20 pair of socks sounds crazy but you won't want to take them off your feet once you try them.
I will drive a country mile with the A/C on, blasting Pearl Jam on the stereo on the way to the store to pick up useless crap.

I'm sorry I used socks as an example. It seems the record has gotten stuck in a groove here.

bootlegger10 · January 2016

brianlux said:

bootlegger10 said:
I would bet there are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck so they only buy what they can afford at the time. They would love to buy that expensive pair of socks that will last a long time, but they also may have to pay for jeans, shirts, shoes, food, rent, gas, mortgage, etc... so they have to spread out the money they spend and buy the cheapest thing they can to get them through the next few months. I agree if you have some money saved up you can buy the nice stuff, but if you don't have that piggy bank to allow you to buy nicer things then you may unfortunately be in a vicious circle of wanting to buy nicer things to save money in the long run but never having quite enough money to be able to get started.
This seems like sound thinking until you really think it out. Like I said, I've been poor, dirt poor. Here's are some things I learned that helped:

-Thrift stores. Maybe not helpful if you live in a third world country but North America is chock-a-block full of very inexpensive, good, useful items in thrift stores.

-The importance of prioritizing what I needed (one of the key points here for many people is to learn the difference between "need" and "want"). Once you narrow down your list to true needs, look for the best item money can buy and save for the next item on the list.

-Mending clothing. Often a few stitches will make do for the time being.

-Dumpster dive. Don't be too proud to take what others discard. I still have a bookshelf I picked out of a dumpster in 1997 and it looks great.

-Food banks,, and other charities. I give to Loaves and Fishes because they were so good to me years ago and I didn't starve. Don't be too proud to accept free food because once you're refueled and back on your feet you can always give back.

-Learn how to budget. I'm one of the few people I personally know who budgets. My income this month is saved for next months bills. When February rolls around, I will have every cent I need for every expense that month already banked. It took me a while to get to this point but I started moving in that direction in the early 90's and by the late 1990's and I was there. And at that time I was living on about $650 a month.

Being poor does not mean you need to buy crap. At least here in America, it's a choice.

Agree. Certainly it takes some time and discipline to get out of the "vicious circle" I mentioned previously.

Why do people buy crap?

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