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Skimp or splurge?
SKesselman:
...If you can't find satisfactory quality don't buy at all.
-cranioscopical (August 02, 2008, 08:22 AM)
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:o Almost all "everyday items" are made poorly! The designs of some of these items are great, but...at least, in the US,
materials + workmanship = crap. I'd be interested to know just how you've managed to escape this :P
SKesselman:
Skimp: Wine, Computer Speakers
Splurge: Vacuum cleaner, Kitchen Table
-mouser (August 02, 2008, 07:22 AM)
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:Thmbsup: Now, there's someone who knows how to live. :Thmbsup:
Did you just get a new vacuum cleaner, too???
Armando:
It's not about skimping or splurging...it's about quality, and when does it matter.
-app103 (August 03, 2008, 04:57 AM)
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Right. Pretty much what I'm thinking, but splurging can have a flavor of its own. So does skimping.
Let's be vague. Here are my 2 general rules:
Splurge : if necessary, when it helps me reach my goals and projects and is in line with my values**. And sometimes when I feel that I should go against my values, goals and projects, just for the pleasure of entropy, variety, surprise...
Skimp : anything that doesn't have any real incidence on my general happiness, or is not in line with my values, goals and projects (ie : spending more would not help achieving more or better, etc.). And sometimes... when I feel that I should go against my happiness values, goals and projects, just for the pleasure of entropy, etc. :D
In most cases, splurge is probably -- ahem -- not essential (hence the term "splurge" -- which doesn't mean that I think it's "bad"... considering that "variety is the spice of life"... Splurge/skimp both have their place and can allow different phenomenons, realities, feelings to blossom...). Especially that humans seem adapt to any condition, whether good or bad (hedonic adaptation -- yes, some researchers will say it's not true, but... there seems to be massive evidence for it).
According to studies (for an easy book on the subject, see Sonja Lyubomirsky's The How of Happiness and of course all the studies on the subject...), the context (material possessions, where you live, etc.) accounts for only 10% of a persons' global happiness. 50% is genetic, and 40% is in the individual's "hands": voluntary cognitive (in the wide sense) and behavioral changes. So a big portion resides in one's attitude towards life (... in general : attitude towards relationships, individual activities and thoughts-emotions, external events...). Now isn't this encouraging? :) (OK 50% is a pretty big number... but so is 40!)
**Sometimes skimping means going against my values : buying stuff -- clothes, objects, services, whatever -- from a company that's not respecting human rights, that's not being ecologically sound, etc. So I'll splurge instead --> it's in line with my values and goals.
Nod5:
Nice topic!
Ergonomically fitting computer gear: SPLURGE. Let's face it, if you're reading this you probably spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. Finding a mouse, keyboard, screen, table and chair that fits your body well is well worth investing money and time in. You don't have to get extremely specialized gear. It's a good step to just get a somewhat better version for each of the listed tool categories.
Kitchen knife: SKIMP. I see I'm going against the grain in this thread here. I use cheap knives from IKEA and an cheap knife sharpener from IKEA. If only the knives are sharp then I have never noticed a difference in performance between cheap and expensive knives.
Fred Nerd:
SPLURGE ON MILK.....
Seriously, I live in a dairy area......I grew up on fresh milk from our house cow...
For starters, taste, I wouldn't feed home-brand milk to my dog, you might as well drink whitened water, and it would be healthier as well..... The cheaper milk comes from dairys with lower health standards; it is cheaper for them to filter and disinfect the dirty milk than to keep it clean from the start.
And they will uses as many chemicals as the law allows in the process. And this is a lot.
As an old dairy farmer said to me, "the milk you buy from a shop has been pasteurised, homogenised, and buggerised"
When I had the time I used to get it straight form the dairy, pay twice what he's getting, and I get the best milk you can get, at the cheapest price.
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