What is your consumer philosophy?
Discussion
Do you buy massses of tat? Everything on finance? Second hand only? Do you only replace things when they've worn out? Do you shoplift it all?
These days when it comes to discretionary purchases I tend to have only one question - will it improve my life? It's quite surprising how rare that is.
These days when it comes to discretionary purchases I tend to have only one question - will it improve my life? It's quite surprising how rare that is.
Does Yipper recommend it.
Is it value for money
Wellmade and durable.
Buy cheap buy twice
Will I use it enough.
Ongoing costs.
Expected depreciation/ease of selling incase I decide to sell/upgrade (less known brands can be a pain to sell on).
Warranty length
I tend to be good on the research side, latest purchase is a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and was chosen after comparing to 10 other models. JL for an additional years free warranty.
Unless it is impulse buy in Aldi day
Is it value for money
Wellmade and durable.
Buy cheap buy twice
Will I use it enough.
Ongoing costs.
Expected depreciation/ease of selling incase I decide to sell/upgrade (less known brands can be a pain to sell on).
Warranty length
I tend to be good on the research side, latest purchase is a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and was chosen after comparing to 10 other models. JL for an additional years free warranty.
Unless it is impulse buy in Aldi day
Edited by hyphen on Friday 16th February 22:01
It depends on the situation and whether I need to buy any item.
Some things I buy new if the price is right. Some things can be second hand, lightly used stuff.
I don't buy anything on finance unless it is 0%. I prefer cash.
My weakness is buying tools but they have served me well eventually.
I don't throw broken things away, I fix them. (The dump is full of stuff that could have been fixed easily)
I could go out and buy a Ferrari tomorrow, but I choose not to as I don't need one.
I would never get into debt just to buy some tat.
My microwave is 25 years old and still going strong.
Some things I buy new if the price is right. Some things can be second hand, lightly used stuff.
I don't buy anything on finance unless it is 0%. I prefer cash.
My weakness is buying tools but they have served me well eventually.
I don't throw broken things away, I fix them. (The dump is full of stuff that could have been fixed easily)
I could go out and buy a Ferrari tomorrow, but I choose not to as I don't need one.
I would never get into debt just to buy some tat.
My microwave is 25 years old and still going strong.
Nothing on finance, only replace things when they're dead (apart from cars..)
Cars: second hand
Bikes: second hand
Clothes: only when on sale and I need them
Phones: sim only, new £140 China phone every 18 months, sell the old one for £70
Appliances: ex demo or refurbished
Never really been bothered about having the finest new shiny thing, prefer to spend my money on holidays or having fun with cars/bikes/friends.
Some may call me tight or think I'm not doing well, but fudge em.
Cars: second hand
Bikes: second hand
Clothes: only when on sale and I need them
Phones: sim only, new £140 China phone every 18 months, sell the old one for £70
Appliances: ex demo or refurbished
Never really been bothered about having the finest new shiny thing, prefer to spend my money on holidays or having fun with cars/bikes/friends.
Some may call me tight or think I'm not doing well, but fudge em.
Cars - buy Jap and run them until a huge bill males no sense repairing them...
Jeans - I only wear Levi 501 and buy very good used pairs for sub £20 off the bay
Hardware - , ie kitchen stuff - buy top end once, IE Global Knives, Nespresso machine,Le C Stainless pans.......
Basically, buy the best VFM subject to useage.
Jeans - I only wear Levi 501 and buy very good used pairs for sub £20 off the bay
Hardware - , ie kitchen stuff - buy top end once, IE Global Knives, Nespresso machine,Le C Stainless pans.......
Basically, buy the best VFM subject to useage.
Sheets Tabuer said:
Quite, a mass of wire and padding, what do you recommend?
It's REALLY difficult as a consumer without access to professional knowledge or regular hotel stays. Don't be fooled by spring counts; for example one of the most comfortable Hypnos beds is 1,000 pocket sprung. By "most comfortable" this is done by pressure testing on 100 people and identifying the models with the least number of pressure points on average; not just sales b
ks.If you stay in hotels and have a comfy bed then strip it and see what they use/ask housekeeping. Buy it! If you don't know if it was comfortable; if you don't remember if it was or not, then it was.
2 minutes sat on one in a shop, perching on the side of it or pushing it to see "how soft it is" tells you nothing. Lie on one in a shop in whichever way you sleep and tell the sales guy to p
s off. Don't try any more than about 3 in a row as you'll never properly remember what they're all like.Do I actually *need* it?
Buy the best quality I can afford
Only use finance if 0% APR
Will it come down in price if I wait a bit?
Is it going to save me money in the long-term (e.g. pricey garage tools, but where I save doing jobs myself)
Decent quality food.
Clothing: quality brands often outlive cheap tat many times over.
Can I get this thing used on eBay for a pittance?
On the latter point, having a kid shows you how easily you can burn through cash. I used to buy our 3yo everything new, but they just grow out of/lose interest in things in a matter of weeks. I’ve snapped up so many ‘good as new’ bargains for a song - got him some really cool kids Vans trainers this week, 35 quid in the shops, 4 quid on eBay for a pair that look like they’ve been worn twice. Obviously he’ll get sniffy about used things as he gets older but whilst he’s none the wiser I’m gonna save where I can.
Buy the best quality I can afford
Only use finance if 0% APR
Will it come down in price if I wait a bit?
Is it going to save me money in the long-term (e.g. pricey garage tools, but where I save doing jobs myself)
Decent quality food.
Clothing: quality brands often outlive cheap tat many times over.
Can I get this thing used on eBay for a pittance?
On the latter point, having a kid shows you how easily you can burn through cash. I used to buy our 3yo everything new, but they just grow out of/lose interest in things in a matter of weeks. I’ve snapped up so many ‘good as new’ bargains for a song - got him some really cool kids Vans trainers this week, 35 quid in the shops, 4 quid on eBay for a pair that look like they’ve been worn twice. Obviously he’ll get sniffy about used things as he gets older but whilst he’s none the wiser I’m gonna save where I can.
Generally avoid the obvious, shiny, ultra popular, wallet waisting for most, unless actually good & what I want. Otherwise, buy what I want & think is the best for me. Might be pricey, might be very cheap, don't care TBH.
However, one person's moronic purchase is, I (almost) guess is another's banker or hot moment
However, one person's moronic purchase is, I (almost) guess is another's banker or hot moment
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