Comments on: The Life Cycle Of A Purchase – From Desired Object To Tossed Clutter

By: Weekly Roundup - Exercise Edition : Cash Money Life

Weekly Roundup - Exercise Edition : Cash Money Life — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:55:01 +0000

[...] The Life Cycle Of A Purchase – From Desired Object To Tossed Clutter. I don’t often suffer from buyer’s remorse, but I’ve had it once or twice. Now I am much more careful how I spend my money! [...]

By: Kandace

Kandace — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:14:31 +0000

As my friend Kat recently said, “Wanting is the foreplay of life.”

By: MoneyTheory

MoneyTheory — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:04:34 +0000

I really agree with the last couple of statements in your article. Keeping those notions in mind can save a person money who otherwise places high value on status and impressing others.

It is a bit depressing to think about how many things do indeed end up in the landfill, which could instead be donated to charity. It seems that the luster of items around the house fade for many, so they decide it is time for an “upgrade.” Since they no longer wish to hang on to the old, they toss it in the garbage can, when they could easily call up a local charity and donate them.

By: Rob O.

Rob O. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:25:26 +0000

I argued recently that there's often something lost when we succumb to the impulse for immediate gratification. Back in the days pre-credit cards, you usually had to save for something you wanted and the anticipation during the time when you were saving made the experience all the more rewarding when you finally were able to buy the coveted item. It's unbelievably easy to be swayed into "miswanting" things just because your friends have one or the media lavishes praise upon that thing. My wife gets a desperate itching for new gadgets, but then often finds little use for those cool gizmos after the new has worn off. Granted, she makes very smart choices so there's quite a bit of longevity to the purchases, but still, they're often less thrilling to own than they were to want.

By: Rob in Madrid

Rob in Madrid — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:37:55 +0000

I was at a garage sale last year (don’t happend too often here so the place was stuffed to the gills) and it struck me the sheer amount of junk there, each and every item there had to be purchased new with money earned by someone getting up and going to work each day.

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:07:50 +0000

It’s funny how quickly we forget the discarded portion of this cycle. My Wii is sitting over there and I remember how obsessed I was with it before I had it. Now it’s there, and that’s enough, and I don’t play it nearly as much as I thought I would.

Duh.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:01:52 +0000

@DavidK: That’s exactly what I did–I bought the truck before I was ready. If the circumstances had been different I probably would have enjoyed owning the truck (rather than it owning me). As it was I grew to resent the thing and its many financial burdens. I haven’t entirely given up on the idea of owning something I really want, but next time I’ll pay cash and be prepared. Lesson learned.

By: DavidK

DavidK — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:23:01 +0000

Gee John, I’ll bet you’re just a bucket ‘o fun.

No one controls your mind but you. If they did, New Coke wouldn’t have been a flop. General Motors wouldn’t be posting billions in losses right now. They could just spend a few more dollars controlling our minds and getting us all to buy a new car or truck. I watch television, and I don’t watch ads. I have two things, a mute button and a fast forward button on my DVR that allows me to skip the commercials and watch only the show I have recorded. I also know that only I control what I buy and when I buy it. Except for food — that’s a slightly more time-sensitive purchase.

Strangely enough, I don’t really see many ads in the Australian outback or in the plains of the Serengeti yet I see the natives out there wearing western and eastern-asian made clothing. I wonder why that is. It’s probably all that TV they watch.

By: John

John — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:07:05 +0000

Ahh, the purchase. How good it feels. Face it, marketers control our brains. You have to shut them out. Start with the TV, get rid of it! Our public spaces are littered with ads. Adbusters calls it mind pollution. To be free of it would be another life.

By: Bryan - Frugal Logic

Bryan - Frugal Logic — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:46:09 +0000

My weakness is gadgets, particularly when I was younger, they were so addictive.

Now I feel I have learnt from my past experiences of purchasing shiny new toys and realize that the thrill wears off around 2 weeks after the purchase.

Another factor is that gadgets become obsolescent so quickly, they bring out a newer, bigger, better model with 4 times the features a few months after I buy something.

I still buy gadgets occasionally but I try to buy products that have a bit of longevity and I put a lot of thought into buying something now, no more impulse buying for me.

Apart from gadgets I am very frugal in other areas of my life.